Secret Love
by nalutrashipper
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia, Fairy Tail High's top student is dating famous school athlete Natsu Dragneel. However, with the school's strict guidelines when it comes to the academic scholars like Lucy, announcing their relationship is a hard bridge to cross. With Natsu's family issues and Lucy's academic struggle, will they be able to make it across and proudly tell everyone about their love?
1. Chapter 1: 内緒 (Secret)

**Secret Love Chapter 1: Naisho (Secret)**

 **Lucy Heartfilia, Fairy Tail High's top student is dating famous school athlete Natsu Dragneel. However, with the school's strict guidelines when it comes to the academic scholars like Lucy, announcing their relationship is a hard bridge to cross. With Natsu's family issues and Lucy's academic struggle, will they be able to make it across and proudly tell everyone about the beautiful thing that they have?**

 **H** **ey, guys! This is my first story upload so I hope it'll be to your liking.. Anyway, I won't hold you up any longer, I hope you enjoy the first chapter :)**

* * *

Lucy was not the type of person to have deep crushes on people like Natsu, but for some inexplicable reason, she did. The sight of him made her giggle on the insides and her arms feel as if there is some kind of magnet that draws them to him. Oh, how nice it would be to be able to hug him! But of course, that was not possible, what with teachers all around the building judging the actions and movements of their students as if they were God.

She looked away from Natsu, cutting off the scene wherein she runs to his arms in pure joy, to look at her watch. It had been almost half an hour since she disregarded the class discussion to stare at Natsu and as the bell rung to signal the end of the class, she quickly gathered her belongings and stormed off the room as if it was her most dreaded place.

The school cafeteria was bustling with hormonal hungry teenagers as per usual, but this did not stop her Natsu radar, immediately noticing him sitting with his friends and their respective girlfriends. It was a pain, that's for sure, but she decided not to pay it any heed and just continue with her business. She walked all the way to their table without glancing in Natsu's way once (which she considered to be an achievement) and laughed her way through their one-hour break.

"You have got to stop being so damn obvious, Lucy!" complained one of her best friends, Cana. "We all know you've got this deep crush going on with him and we know it's your first time since Sting, but man, can you be a bit more obvious about it?"

"That's so not true, Cana." she replied, not even looking up to know that everyone was nodding their heads in approval with Cana's useless comment. "I like to think that you guys notice it because you are aware of what I feel, and well, you know me."

Lucy shrugged, trying her best to convince even herself because come on, she is so freaking obvious! Lucy tried to act as nonchalant as possible until she heard a booming laughter echo around the cafeteria. They all turned their heads to Natsu's table where Gray, one of Natsu's friends, seemed like he was dying of laughter.

"Natsu, man!" he shouted, tutting as he was formulating his next sentence. "Those geeks would never let you date them! Didn't you know, they're all about school, all about tomorrow, all about their grades! They're too plain and boring for you, man!"

Lucy rolled her eyes, hating the fact that there was like a bazillion of comments in her brain that would render poor old Gray's statement wrong but not having the courage to speak it out loud. She decided to ignore his insensitive comment and turned back to her table to finish her meal.

"I agree with the man, Natsu" inserted Lisanna, the infamous "lady-jerk", but in Lucy's non-sexist dictionary, she was just a jerk. "People with the wits are more likely to let you copy their assignments than let you date them, but that's if there are people willing to date them."

Lucy's hands were shaking with anger now, and sweat was beading up her forehead. She didn't want to be one of the people who just stood by and listened. No, she wanted to be the one who stands up and actually makes a difference. But, fear. It's her greatest enemy. She was scared she would say something wrong, she was scared people would just disregard her opinion and agree with the stereotypical argument. Her knees were shaking. They were begging to stand up, and yet her legs felt as if they have lost all will to move. What was she going to do?

"Stop it, you guys." scowled Natsu. "Let's just drop it and finish eating." Lucy felt relieved for some reason, it was as if Natsu had sensed her dilemma and had decided to speak out to save her ass. But there was no way that was possible, parents couldn't even do that. She sighed, finally releasing the air that was trapped in her system for like half a minute, and unclenching her fists only to realize that they had been already started to hurt and might even get bruises.

"Are you okay?" asked Levy, worry clear on her face. "You look like you're holding a huge poo."

"Oh my God, Levy!" Lucy said, bursting out in laughter. "I actually thought you were concerned about me. But, yes, I am. It's just that my thoughts are as big as that imaginary poo you think I was holding."

"Yeah well, they're jerks anyway." said Mira, Cana's girlfriend. "Don't pay them or their inconsiderate thoughts any attention."

"Easy for you to say," muttered Lucy, demolishing her half-eaten cup of mashed potato. "You just look like best friends having the time of their lives. We can't even say hi to each other!"

"You'll both be okay, and we all know it." smiled Levy, her eyes comforting Lucy in a way that only a best friend ever could. "Heck, even he knows it."

* * *

When Lucy arrived home after yet another day at school, she quickly dove to her study table to finish all the homework she has to do just in time for her favorite person in the world to be finished with practice. She was doing her Calculus homework when the sudden ding of her phone distracted her.

From: Anon

 _Hey, how you doin'?_

Lucy saw herself snickering at the infamous catchphrase of Joey Tribianni, one of the characters from her all-time favorite sitcom, Friends. She shook her head and decided to tease him a little bit by not replying and continued on with her impending homework. Lucy was starting to get lightheaded from all the formulas she saw from a single book when her phone caught her attention again.

From: Anon

o _h come on. i miss talking to you. pl_ _ease_ _reply, we're real busy with practice :(_

Lucy sighed, not being able to resist the man any longer. She closed her Calculus book and pushed it at the side of the table and grabbed her phone.

To: Anon

 _I'm here, just doing my Calculus homework. It's such a dull! Care to entertain me a bit? :)_

Shortly after hitting the send button, a reply instantly came through. A blush started to spread through Lucy's cheeks.

From: Anon

 _as much as i would_ love _to, i cant. im sitting on bench since its still break time but we're resuming anytime now. anyways, great talk! ttyl._

Lucy felt herself cringing from the way he typed his texts, hating the loss of correct capitalization and apostrophes, but nevertheless, felt incredibly great about herself. She missed being able to just talk to him anytime she wanted or needed to. Now, she can't even talk to him on the phone, much less in person. Lucy could not stop herself from heaving a sigh.

Everybody regards Lucy as a person with a positive outlook on life, which is true for the most part. But being enrolled in a really good and high-end institution whose primary goal was to send all of its promising students to the best schools out there for them was really hard. There were qualifications that were adhered to them, and only them, in order to make sure that they were not going to be distracted from their goals.

The "regime" as the students from other classes teased them, only had two qualifications.

 **1\. Failure to keep grades from all subjects well above 90 will result in being dropped from the section.**

 **2\. Every student in the section must have his own extra-curricular activity planned out and should produce results by the end of the semester, failure to do so will result in being advised to drop.**

And in order to keep their heads straight, the scholars were strongly discouraged to date, and in the case you are well, to say that the school and the parents are going to make a big deal out of it would be an understatement. Those qualifications were only applicable to the academic scholars. The qualifications for the sports team were a bit more harsh and unforgiving. They were allowed to date though, which was constantly being envied by the academic scholars. The only thing that makes the sports team's qualifications a bit too harsh for Lucy was the need for them to train their body for a total of eight hours a day.

Now, when all this was proposed Lucy was all up for the idea. At the time, she never really imagined herself being in a place where she would actually meet a person who would make her want to disobey the damned institution and date away. So now, when she had started talking with Anon, she just thought that dating won't really harm a student's academic performance if she just focuses enough like Lucy. She sighed, knowing that despite her thoughts, she would never really have the courage to speak them out because her anxiety just kills all her momentum.

A continuous vibration from her phone jolt her awake from her thoughts of unleashing a propaganda against the academic rules of performance. She turned to it and slid the answer button to the left to receive the call.

"Hey, Dragneel." she smiled, her face not being able to contain her apparent blush. "So how was practice?"

"Oh, real good." answered the deep voice on the phone that just made Lucy's heart turn mushy and skip a beat. "How's homework? I hope you're getting somewhere with that shit."

"Oh this shit's never getting me anywhere." Lucy couldn't help but laugh. She only really cursed when she's with him because everyone thinks she's too good for that and she doesn't really want to ruin people's impression of her. "It's just homework after homework after homework. What's getting me somewhere though is the hard work that the school will give to my application for Fiore University."

"Huh, I guess you're settled with that school."

"Yes, actually. And you? Any thoughts?" Lucy was curious as to which school he's decided to attend at college because there weren't really many good schools for sports in Magnolia.

"Yes and I've been thinking that I won't go to a school dedicated to sports." Lucy felt her jaw drop. This was the first he had ever told her about this. "Because I just thought that I'm only in the sports team because of my family, and I think I'm good because of this thing called genetics. But I really want to do something in my life that sets me apart from my family."

"Which is what, if I may ask?"

"Pilot." he said, and Lucy felt her smile get a bit wider. "I want to be a pilot, Luce. I've always wanted to become one but the pressure coming from my family of athletes didn't exactly help with fulfilling my dreams."

"Have you talked to them about this?"

"No, I haven't. I decided to spill the beans at the same time I tell them about you."

Lucy felt her heart drop at his decision. "Babe, you do know that we can't tell any more people about us right? This would put my standing in the section in danger, and this would also mean wrath from your mom who has already chosen some girl for you."

"I know," he started. "But I really, really love you, Luce. And if they can't accept that then I don't think they're my family at all. All my life, all I ever did was follow everything they told me. I walked the path they told me to take and I didn't complain once. Now, I just want them to realize that I am not like their other kid who just blindly obeys them. I don't want to end up like my brother, sad and lonely."

"That's great, Dragneel. To be honest, I've always been envious of you for being so dedicated to your family but seeing you like this is really sexy." Lucy said jokingly. She knew that the man had his kinks and this was one of them; her telling him all the things she loved about him.

"Luce," groaned the man on the phone. "will you please stop calling me by my last name when it's just the two of us? I really want to hear you say my name because you only do it so rarely!"

"Fine, fine" laughed Lucy. It had been so long since he ever had the time to call her and she was also so busy for the upcoming school debate so spending some time with him like this even if it was just on the phone was important to her. But there are times when she wants to see him in person and talk to him endlessly. There are times when she longs for his surprise hugs. There are times when her solitude is too strong that she would want to end it all because after all, even the great Lucy breaks.

"Thank you, love." he said, relief evident on his voice. Maybe her saying his name truly was such a big deal to him. "Anyways, I still have some homework left to do. It's really frustrating because you get home, and you expect to get some rest and when you open your phone, you see the countless of academic homework left to do!"

"Oh my God, stop complaining and just do your homework!" exclaimed Lucy, her voice full of pure happiness. "I'll even help you out, just send me the details and I'll give you the answers in no time."

"Really? You'll do that for me?" Excitement was pouring down the man's voice. "Okay, I'll send you this two Chemistry problems that has been bugging me for the past thirty minutes so I can finally let go of it and start on my Social Science homework. Good night, Luce! I'll always love you."

"Sure, fire away." Lucy's voice was screaming sadness. "And I will always love you more, Natsu Dragneel."

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: As you can see, I decided to keep all the titles in Japanese while I will just provide translations. So there you have it, the first chapter! I really wish you liked it.**


	2. Chapter 2: ヤキモチ (Jealousy)

**Secret Love Chapter 2: Yakimochi (Jealousy)**

Lucy woke up the next day feeling motivated. Last night was her first great talk she ever had with Natsu for a really long time now and being able to spend even just a couple of minutes talking with him meant a lot to her.

Today, Lucy was exempted from all her classes except for Chemistry and Physical Education so that her debate team could prepare for their competition. Oh, P.E. was such a dreadful subject. Why was everyone even required to join the stupid subject? Just remembering all the embarrassment and bruises she received because of the damned subject was making her shiver. But despite the feeling of dread coursing through her skin, she groggily got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom to do her business.

When she was done, she wore black pants that would stretch enough for Volleyball, and barely passed formal wear and some plain white shirt. She decided to carry her cardigan with her for her debate practice. She hopped off the stairs to the dining room and decided to eat some proper breakfast to help her get started with what might be one of the toughest days of her life.

"Look who's decided to eat some actual food." started her Mother. "Here, have some dear. Let me guess, today's going to be a hectic day?"

"It sure looks like it is." chided her Father. "You look like you don't even know where you're going, Lu."

Lucy rolled her eyes at her Dad's comment about her current choice of clothing. "Yes Mom, I'm really busy today. And Dad, stop with the fashion comments, even you don't look like you know where you're going. Besides, I have a class in P.E today, and a debate practice right after so I hope that explains why I look like this."

"You have got to trust our LuLu to have the snarkiest of comebacks." laughed her Dad, still being sarcastic. "Anyways, I suggest you change, you look like a total buffoon in those pants and that shirt."

"Fine!" shouted Lucy, frustration clear in her voice. "I'll change right after I finish my breakfast but in return for my lost time, you have to send me to school."

"Sure, I'd rather send you to school than have you go to school by yourself wearing those." joked her Dad, still not taking her seriously. Lucy gave him a look that delivered her seriousness. "Okay, geez, can't a man joke around these days?"

"What are you saying, Dad? How stupid." Lucy said, her meal almost finished. "Of course a man can joke, everybody can. It's just that I don't appreciate it when you are criticizing my sense of fashion today. So as a challenge, why don't _you_ choose what I wear today?"

Her Dad gaped at her suggestion, not because he didn't want to, but because he _really, really_ wanted to do it for so long now that when he was actually given the chance, he looked like he was about to die. "Are you sure? I mean, okay! I'm not letting you have second thoughts on this." And with that, her Dad was in her room, searching through her wardrobe for clothes she could wear.

"How's the debate practice going, love?" asked her Mom with her picture-perfect smile. "I trust you are leading this? I sure do hope you top it this time."

Lucy hated the tone her Mom was using on her. It had always ticked her off when her Mom goes all "perfect" on her. Sure, she was entitled to being like that, what with being the valedictorian in their class despite being pregnant, but she just despised it when her Mom does that because it made her feel as if her performance was not enough. She loves her Mom and they're really close but she could be strict when it comes to her academic achievements.

Lucy was about to finally start trying to speak her mind but her Dad beat her to it, "Lu, come on now! Your clothes are ready! Get changed while I take the car out of the garage." Lucy sighed, thankful that her Dad saved her from snapping at her Mom. She smiled at her Mom, nodded, and left. She headed to her room and when she got there, her Dad was nowhere to be found. She shrugged her shoulders and started changing.

She looked herself up and down the mirror and nodded, ashamed that her father actually had a point when he said that she looked like a complete fool in her former choice of attire. She grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs where her Dad was waiting for her. She kissed her Mom goodbye and wrapped her arms around the smaller woman's body to hug her.

Lucy opened the car to the passenger's side and attached her seat belt, and prayed before her Dad had started the car. They were out in the bustling streets of Magnolia in no time, school buses and private cars were coming from all sorts of direction, jaywalkers crossing the streets with no regard for the traffic or for their lives in that point.

Lucy's school was thirty minutes away from where she lives and she has to wait for a few minutes for the school bus to come by that had her school's location included in their route so she also had to take into account her waiting time. Once they reached her school, Lucy immediately hopped off the car and kissed her father's cheek goodbye Lucy's school was one of the most prestigious schools in whole country, Fairy Tail High, which was founded by one of Fiore's famous and smartest tactician; Mavis Vermillion.

When Lucy arrived at the gymnasium, almost everyone was already there, dressed up in their respective P.E. Uniforms. Lucy quickly said hi to Levy and went to change from her sporty-yet-classy get-up. Once she was finished, she went out of the bathroom and out into the narrow hallway that leads out into the gym when she suddenly hit a rather hard chest.

"Hey!" complained Lucy, caressing her shoulder. "Watch it!"

"Oh I'm sorry, love." Lucy looked up and found Natsu, smirking. "Anyways, should we get going? We've been here for a long time now and I think people will start to get suspicious.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "You do know that there is no way possible right? People think you are way too out of my league and that I am not your type of girls."

Natsu scoffed and left, leaving Lucy baffled at what just happened. Regardless, Lucy shrugged her shoulders and stuffed her clothes at her gym bag and teamed up with Levy and the others. "What happened back there? I saw you get out after _the_ Natsu. Did he do anything to you?"

Lucy shook her head no at Kinana, one of their friends who knows nothing about her relationship with Natsu purely because they just weren't that close. "I didn't even know he was there. Anyways, what's today's dreadful sport?"

"It's Volleyball, your favorite." laughed Levy, knowing full well that Lucy sucked at the sport more than anything else. Lucy shuddered at the last time she played the sport, bruising her arm and not being able lift them for two days.

"Ugh, of all sports!" as if on cue, their gym teacher appeared with a bunch of boys from their class, pushing a cart full of Volley balls. Everybody started forming groups of 5 as per usual. Lucy counted their team and with Levy, Cana, and Kinana, they were missing one person because Mira was absent due to summer cold. "Excuse me sir, we're missing one member."

"Perfect!" exclaimed Mr. Macao, their teacher. "Come 'ere, Lisanna. Join Lucy and the others since you are new to the class and seem to not 'ave a group." It had always baffled Lucy as to why Mr. Macaoe seemed to be incapable to pronounce his H's.

"Ugh, sure." muttered Lisanna who seemed to be as ecstatic about their teaming up as Lucy, although Lucy just tried her best to hide it. "Look, geeks." she started, looking Lucy up and down. "I'm only here for my boyfriend, so don't think even think for one second that I will be your friend."

"What do you mean, 'your boyfriend'?" questioned Cana, her hands warming up a Volley ball up and down. "We all know your crush on Natsu is one-sided, so stop treating us like dumb shits."

"Besides, I don't think Natsu likes you." chimed Kinana.

"FYI ladies," Lisanna's mouth was placed in a pout, her hands on her hips and her fingers in a tut. "He just happened to ask me out a while ago."

Lucy's heart dropped at this. She didn't know how to act, but she knew better than to trust Lisanna's words. She was, after all, famous for her lies about all the popular boys that have apparently "asked her out" but have outwardly "rejected". However, Lucy knew that what Lisanna saw in Natsu was different. The girl was serious about being obsessed about Lucy's boyfriend and she doesn't see how Lisanna could not win Natsu over when they pretty much spend the whole day together.

Just as Lucy's thoughts were about to go haywire, Mr. Macao blew his orange whistle, indicating that everybody should start practicing already. Each team paired up with another team to pass balls around and practice their serves and receives. Lucy was getting the hang of it until she remembered what Lisanna said and her knees started getting weak. Lucy's serves were getting nowhere and when Loke, the smart guy with orange hair who is apparently, really good at Volleyball, approached her and volunteered to teach her.

Loke was showing Lucy how it's done, and with no luck, Lucy just can't make it go past the net. Lucy was starting to get really nervous now since she can't afford to get a low mark from today's activity because if she does, well say hello to Lucy's first line of 7.

Lucy couldn't handle the impending shame of failing P.E of all subjects. "Loke, I hate this!" complained Lucy, her voice practically echoed throughout the whole gymnasium. "Why don't you just come over here, and direct my hand to how it's done instead of just showing me?" She knew that it was embarrassing, that there was a possibility that Loke may say no and would just add up to her list of shameful things, but she was desperate now. She needed to learn, fast.

"Are you sure?" asked Loke, "I mean it's fine with me but you know that we're a part of the scholarship and I don't want people to have the wrong idea."

"You know what, I don't care Loke! This is my last chance to save my grade from landing to a line of 7. And I can't accept getting my first line of 7 from P.E. because if I did then even provincial colleges won't accept me." And with that, Loke started his way to Lucy, shaking his head at how P.E. has made Lucy so serious. He passed the ball to Lucy and told her hold it with her left hand and ready her other hand for a hit. Lucy curled her hand in a punch and positioned the ball to her front.

"Yeah, you should do it facing you since it's easier that way." Loke nodded, he placed his hand on Lucy's right and directed it to the bottom part of the ball where Lucy is supposed to hit. "Now, when you toss it, don't toss it too high, or too low. Then as it suspends mid-air, you hit it right here. Got it?"

Lucy nodded her head and said, "Yeah, I get that but my problem is I can't control the ball and my arm's too weak to send the ball across the court."

"That's not true. Here let me show you." Loke held Lucy's other hand and now, he was practically hugging her from behind. He motioned for Lucy to throw the ball in the air and so she did. And with Loke guiding Lucy's other hand, he swung it so hard that it almost passed the net. "See? You can do it. So stop thinking you can't."

"Hey, Lucas." They both turned to see a rather flustered looking Natsu. Lucy looked away, forgetting the fact that her boyfriend was actually here. "Your team mates need some help over there. I can handle Lucy."

"No they don't, they're players just like me so they can handle themselves." Loke smiled, and Lucy just wished that Loke got the message soon and would leave. Lucy realized that Loke was still partly hugging her from behind and broke free from his arms.

"It's okay, Loke. Thanks for teaching me." Lucy smiled and asked for the ball back. "I can practice with Dragneel. I'll be fine."

Loke seemed confused about the situation, but left nevertheless, even smiling encouragingly at Lucy. "Why don't we practice over there? It's scary out here, a ball might hit us all of a sudden." Natsu said, pointing to a clear part of the gym. Lucy nodded her head and followed him.

"You know, just because we're out here in the open does not mean I can socialize with you. We're still classmates after all." Natsu said, serving the ball to Lucy and this time, Lucy was able to cleanly receive it. "Now, you try." He passed the ball to Lucy for her to serve. "Why did you come to him when you could just ask me?"

"You know full well why, Natsu." Lucy was preparing both her arms to serve and concentrating her mind on it. Lucy served it and it went farther this time. "If I were to approach you out of the blue just to ask you to teach me Volley ball, which is not even your strong suit, then it would be weird. People would judge me, and I don't want that."

Natsu received Lucy's serve softly as if it was just a cotton ball being passed around. "You're right, I'm sorry I snapped and needlessly came over." Mr. Macao blew his whistle twice now, the signal for the practicum to start. Everybody gathered around the side of the court and went to a side of the court when called.

"That's not true." Lucy said, smiling at the ball in order to not cause any suspicious eyes their way. "I think it was quite sweet of you to do that."

Even with Lucy training her mind and arms for a single sport for 30 minutes, she still couldn't do it. The ball didn't even touch the net and even though Loke served the ball directly at her, her in-synchronized body was not able to receive the ball still.

When she was finally inside the court, her arms were shaking and her legs felt as if they could barely support her weight. The ball was coming her way, she knew that much. She swung her arms to the left, trying her hardest to receive the ball only for it to brush against her forearm. Second chance, this was her last chance, she had to get this. She bent her knees and readied for impact. Loke hit the ball, and now it was flying mid-air. She knew that she just had to step up and hit it with her arms. But her legs were frozen stuck, she couldn't move her feet off the floor. She tried to extend her arms towards the ball only to fall a centimeter off.

This was it. She failed. Lucy's eyes widened in horror, she uncapped her hands and fell to the ground. Oh good God, how could she let this happen? She laughed away her failure and stood up. She approached her friends who were offering words of consolation saying it was alright but it wasn't. Everybody knew it wasn't. Tears were forming at Lucy's eyes but she couldn't let them fall here because then, they would think she was this person who needed to succeed at everything. She shook her head, hiding behind the post that supports the basketball net. She knew that P.E would cause her impending doom. She knew this but she just couldn't accept it.

With a deep breath, she closed her eyes, rubbed her sweaty palms on her shirt, and thought; _it's okay._ She took a deep breath once again, trying her best to convince herself that it was okay but her shaking knees, sweaty palms, and wavering breath was contradicting. _Oh God, I screwed up._

All of a sudden, a tall figure was looming above Lucy. She opened her eyes and saw Loke there, smiling kindly. His smile said it all. That it was going to be okay, that sucking at sports is nothing to be ashamed about, and that he cares. Lucy smiled and rest her head upon the post.

"It's okay, Luce" he said, and Lucy nodded and he hugged her.

 **It's a long chapter, I know! Tell me what you think! How do you think will Natsu react? I'm really looking forward to portraying the sweet side of their relationship because even I haven't thought about all the moments they're going to have! I hope you enjoyed the second chapter! Oh and by the way, I haven't decided on an update schedule as of yet because I am still too busy on academic stuff to have a clear schedule for the updates but once I do, I'll be sure to tell you guys! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the second chapter! Until next time :)**


	3. Chapter 3: 充実した 時間 (Precious Time)

**It's been a while, you guys! This chapter is dedicated to _Star_ , for being my very first reviewer. Thanks for the positive feedback! Anyway, I was gone for a while so I would like to apologize for that. **

**Lisanna plays a girl who likes Natsu here but this does not mean that I hate her. I just decided to use her of all the women in Fairy Tail because I think she suits the role best than any other girl who has no chemistry with Natsu. I also decided last minute to use actual Fairy Tail characters so my readers would not have a hard time visualizing the story and that this is not at all a message saying I hate these two characters. I just thought that they are the ones far more suitable for this role as they do share some chemistry with our main couple. So that's it and I hope you bear with it. For the newer readers, to those who have read the edited version, please disregard this note.**

 **I won't hold you off any longer so here you go! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Secret Love Chapter Three: Jujitsushita Jikan (Quality Time)**

 **Previously on Secret Love:** _All of a sudden, a tall figure was looming above Lucy. She opened her eyes and saw Loke there, smiling kindly. His smile said it all. That it was going to be okay, that sucking at sports is nothing to be ashamed about, and that he cares. Lucy smiled and rest her head upon the post._

 _"It's okay, Luce" he said, and Lucy nodded and he hugged her._

* * *

"What the actual _fuck?"_ Everybody turned to see Natsu, fuming with anger. His face was red beyond words as if he just got out of a cartoon, his fists were balled up, and his eyes were screaming.

"Dragneel, watch your words!" shouted Mr. Macao, approaching the scene. "Would you like to tell me what just 'appened that caused 'dis ruckus?"

Lucy knew better than to say anything so she kept quiet. Loke had let go of her and was now caressing her back for comfort. She moved one step away from him to avoid further problems. "What's wrong?" she asked Levy.

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think, _I think,_ it has something to do with what Loke just did?" Levy whispered to her ear. Lucy's face turned in annoyance, she knew Natsu had the tendency to be jealous but she didn't think he could actually blurt out some ugly words in public.

Lucy looked at Natsu. He was breathing in and out, trying to suppress his anger. He shook his head, which was coming back to their original color now. "Nothing sir, I'm sorry for my sudden outburst."

"I'm sure you are, Dragneel. I'm sure you are." nodded Mr. Macao. "'Owever, you just spoke informally and I don't care if you're a scholar or not, I will not take this kind of be'avior lightly."

"Yes, sir." Natsu was now caressing his hands which were probably still hurting as a result from his clenching. "I understand, and I will be on my way now."

Lucy watched as Natsu left for the Principal's office. She wasn't sure as to how Natsu will explain his behavior but she just hoped that it had nothing to do with the truth. The school was all about good grades and perfect attendance when it comes to its students which is why Lucy didn't want the school to know about her and Natsu but she knew that this was just the reason that she kept on pushing herself to believe. She knew it wasn't really the reason. She knew that it wasn't about the school's views about relationships but more about her thoughts on how people are going to judge her.

"Well, that was uncalled for." said Mr. Macao facing the class whose faces were struck with surprise. "Anyways, we're done with Volleyball for dis year and we're going with Swimming next so I expect you bring your swimming trunks and suits next week Monday. Are we clear?"

Everybody muttered a yes in response and went on their ways. Lucy didn't know how she could possibly make a great argument in her head for today's debate after what just happened with Natsu. She knew it was her mistake and that might be all that she would be thinking about the whole day.

"I _screwed up,_ Lev." groaned Lucy, her arms linking with her best friend. It was just the two of them now since Mira and Kinana weren't a part of the debate team. "I screwed up _big time._ "

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Lu." said Levy, her other hand brushing Lucy's arm in comfort. "You couldn't have expected for that to happen."

Lucy wanted to agree with Levy. She wanted nothing more than to shift this blame to anyone else but she knew that it was nobody's fault but hers. She could have backed away so that Loke wouldn't hug her, or she could have just aced Volleyball so that all this Loke thing would never even start in the first place.

"That's not true, Lu." comforted Levy. "There are things that we just couldn't control and this is just one of them. You will have to get used to them because there will be more to come in the future."

"Did I just blurt out my inner thoughts again?" groaned Lucy. She had got to put that in control.

"Yes, you just did." laughed Levy. "But unlike what just happened in the gym, that can be controlled so do your best to put it at bay because that might be dangerous at certain times."

Lucy nodded and they turned right to see that the debate room was brimming with people. Lucy wondered if they were this years applicants since the school is one of the pioneers when it comes to producing great debaters and anyone who thinks they are qualified enough to join usually crowds the club's office in the first day of school to apply for that one slot available this year but Lucy thinks that nobody needs to know that. "Well, good luck to these first years."

"Pfft," laughed Levy. She nodded her head and they asked the students to move a bit so they could pass through. When they were inside the room, everybody was already there except Loke who was probably still changing. "Hey you guys. Ready for today?"

"Yeah, but you should probably do something with those people outside first." pointed Hibiki, their very own super boy who had all the looks and brains. "Or you know, how you both look?"

Lucy looked down to realize that she was still wearing her gym clothes. She sighed and went to the club's closet that held pretty much nothing and was spacious enough for a person to get in. "I'm changing first, then I'll take care of 'em."

When Lucy was done changing, she put her hair up in a bun and opened the office's door to meet face to face with almost fifteen people. "Good morning, everybody. Here's how this year's application is gonna go, I want all of your names in a paper and we'll schedule a debate for all of you. We're going to form two groups out of you and we'll see who gets the slot. And please remind everybody that interested applicants will only be accepted until today, so I need that list by 3 PM. Any questions?" Lucy said, ending with a smile. While she may not be that confident at sports, she sure was a killer when it comes to debate so she wants everybody who applies to respect her, hence the confident speech.

Lucy looked around to see someone at the back raising their hand so she motioned for the person to come forward. "You said 'the slot', does this mean you will only accept one person this year?" Lucy smile turned to a grin.

"That's right. Only one person will be accepted to this year's debate team since we already have enough skilled members to compete at a national level, but of course there are three extra slots for spectators."

"Of course 'spectators' would mean that you only get to watch us during matches and practices and ask us a couple of questions but you can't really gain some experience from actual debates." inserted Levy, wearing her practice suit which consisted of black overalls and a blazer. "But I think it's better to be a spectator than to be nothing at all. Anyways, that's that and we'll see you all hopefully soon."

Levy closed the door as soon as the students were leaving and sighed. They may act all happy and fine with it but it really was a shame to only have one new member for this year's debate. "Let's start?" said Loke by the door, who was sporting a casual formal look of a turtle neck and some pants.

"Sure, what's today's practice topic?" asked Juvia, one of their three new members from last year. It seems to Lucy that the debate team was accepting fewer new applicants by the year, and she was scared that it might be due to their performance but that can't be true since they just won Champion in all debate competitions last year and to be fair, it might have been the school's best performances. Back when Lucy was in 10th grade, they accepted four scholar students; Loke, Hibiki, Levy, and Lucy. Last year, they accepted three; Juvia, Cana, and Yukino. This year, their club moderator told them to only accept one student but to choose three promising spectators. Lucy didn't know what that meant but she decided that it would be better to just follow.

"Well since we're still in the first day of school, why don't we talk about some sort of ideology?" offered Yukino who was typing away in her laptop, not even bothering to look up.

"Sure but I'm warning you, I suck at this." muttered Cana, who was sitting at the edge of the table with her arms propped against the table. Cana was a great debater but only when she is actually interested at the topic.

"Okay, let's talk about ideologies then." agreed Hibiki. Despite his bad boy looks, he is actually the one who usually closes and finalizes the club's discussion in order to stop everyone from going overboard because as debaters, they were prone to getting overboard. "Now does anybody want to specify a little bit?"

"I don't know about you guys, but this Feminism thing has been all over the place so why not that?" suggested Levy.

"Sounds good," nodded Lucy. "It's not too complex nor is it too vague and its content and effects can be debated upon."

As the debate went on and on, the sun was slowly setting and by the time the clock hit 3, a knock came from the door.

"In a minute!" exploded a rather frustrated Bisca. "Can't you see the sign?!" They decided to put up a sign that says "Please Do Not Disturb" every time they are debating in order to avoid disruptions such as a knock and stop the debate's momentum.

"Oh! I'm sorry, miss." replied someone, her voice a bit too sweet for a freshman in high school. "I-I'm just here to s-submit the final listing for e-everyone that's interested in j-joining the t-team."

Everybody's face were etched with confusion. Lucy wondered if the girl herself was interested in joining but wondered if she could ever make it. "Just wait a sec, please. We're not finished yet."

"O-okay. I understand very clearly ma'am." She replied. Everybody shook their heads in frustration and finished wrapping up their debate session.

"To conclude, feminism is an irrational ideology to have in the 21st century where women's rights and privileges are as valued as that of the senior citizens." finished Hibiki, frustrated that he had to be against his actual thoughts about the ideology. Lucy had always liked Hibiki because of the way he sees things and she laughed at the thought of him having to think of great arguments that were against his beliefs.

"Okay, nice job everyone." Lucy said, standing up and shaking hands with everyone. "Today's debate was great but I will expect more from us at the actual competition. Can I believe that you won't break my expectations?"

"Oh shut up, Lucy. Of course we won't, when have we ever?" Loke commented and followed with a roll with his eyes. The rest of the debate team laughed and Levy stood up to open the door.

"Hey, sorry for the wait." Levy smiled, she took the signage from the doorknob and motioned for the girl to go in. "Is this the full list?"

A girl who was a bit shorter than Levy entered the club room and handed Levy the list with a nod. "We w-went from d-door to door to make s-sure we didn't m-miss a-anybody."

"What's the matter?" asked Lucy, concerned about the way the girl talks. "Are you nervous or something? Because if so, you don't have to be. What's your name, by the way?"

"M-my name's W-Wendy, Miss L-Lucy." said the girl, raising her head a bit to meet Lucy's eyes. "A-and I-I'm not n-nervous, t-this is j-just t-the way I t-talk."

Hibiki stepped up with a sigh. "I see, Miss Wendy. Are you interested in joining the debate team as well, or are you just delivering the list?"

Lucy knew deep down that everybody was hoping that Wendy wasn't joining because even though they knew that they would have a hard time rejecting such a cute young lady. "Y-Yes, a-actually." Wendy nodded, confirming everyone's problem.

Lucy sighed, "You know we can't have a stutter right? A debater must be confident not just physically but as well as with how she sounds and a stutter doesn't make you sound like you're confident. As a matter of fact, it makes you sound scared."

"I-I know t-that, Miss." Wendy said, looking down on the ground. "B-But I a-assure you t-that I h-have a-amazing p-points a-and I c-can f-fix my s-stutter." Lucy looked at Levy for help. She wanted to discourage Wendy now, in order to not have her go through the rejection phase.

"I see, Wendy. Well, just go through screening and we'll see if we can help you get through your stutter, okay?" Offered Levy, which was the exact opposite of what Lucy wanted Levy to say and all she could do was silently groan.

"T-Thank you, M-Miss Levy!" Wendy exclaimed, all giddy and happy. "W-when's the s-screening?"

"Tomorrow, actually." smiled Levy, Lucy's eyes widened in realization. Loke noticed this and gave her a questioning look. Lucy shook her head, implying that she is going to explain later. "I expect you to be there, okay?"

Wendy nodded her head so hard it seemed like it would fall off any moment now. They all watched and smiled as Wendy said her thanks and went on her way. After the door was closed, Hibiki was the first one to break the silence. "Oh God, we're gonna have a rough afternoon tomorrow." Everybody smiled and shook their heads at this and started cleaning up.

"I can't make it tomorrow." Lucy broke the news and everybody stopped and froze mid-action. "We have a family dinner and I was asked to help prepare. You all know how much my family values family dinners. I'm so sorry, you guys."

"Ugh, first that Wendy the stutter and now you?" groaned Levy. "Can't we just face one problem at a time?"

"What on earth were you thinking, Lucy?" complained Cana, setting the books that were on her arms at the cabinet. "How are we going through with the screening without you there? You're the president, you know!"

"What's going on, Bis? What's with the temper?" asked Lucy. It was not new that Cana had an uncontrollable temper but that was just during debates and her being this hot-headed during a casual conversation was weird. "I'm just gonna ask Ms. Aries to fill in for me, I'm sure it's fine with her. Would that make things okay?"

"I guess," started Loke. "I'm fine with having Ms. Aries over but I'm just thinking about _your_ choices. You are very picky when it comes to new club members."

Everybody nodded in unison, which made Lucy scoff. "I am _not_ that bad." she laughed, shaking her hand as a gesture to disagree. "I just didn't think our previous president was as good at sensing talents as he was at debating."

"Oh come _on!"_ Juvia exclaimed, startling everyone. "You stayed silent the entire screening process last year and when our president started announcing the names of the ones accepted you startled everyone by suddenly standing up and disagreeing with him."

"You went all bizarre," commented Yukino, who stayed silent the whole time. "You even said 'Your selection abilities are sadly poor, Mr. President! Here's what we're gonna do..' and you went on and on about who's good and whatnot."

Lucy turned to Levy with an imploring look, but to her dismay, Levy did nothing but laugh at her misery. "It _is_ true, Lu. It's fine with us if you won't get to come but is it fine with _you?"_

"Of course not." grumbled Lucy. This _was_ one of the most exciting parts of the year for her, and missing it intentionally was getting her frustrated. "But what can I do though? This is my family we're talking about. Besides, if I'm not fine with your choices then I'll just hold another screening session."

"Then why not put it on hold?" suggested Juvia. It was a reasonable suggestion but they can't afford to put it on hold since they were already scheduled to have a screening session tomorrow.

"Sadly, that can't be done. We're holding screening sessions at the AVR, yes? Levy here, has surely already booked it for our session tomorrow and as it is still the beginning of the school year, all clubs are surely dying to get booked for their own session." explained Lucy. The AVR had always been a hard place to book even though they have 3 rooms assigned for it because of the countless clubs that need to go through their own screening process. "If we cancel now, we don't know when we would have another chance to book it. We can't waste such a grand opportunity, yes?"

"I agree, if we cancel the AVR now we'll surely end up doing our screening at that God-forsaken gymnasium where everybody has to shout to hear each other." said Loke, who was already packing his bag and was back to his casual clothes.

"See? Anyways, I'm sure you'll do a great job at the session tomorrow and that I won't have to hold another session because I am confident that you'll pick the right people." smiled Lucy, piling the books that the applicants can read tomorrow before they start. "Just remember my standard and you'll be fine."

* * *

When Lucy arrived home, it was dead-silent. It was as if a ghost had gone through and took everyone with it. Lucy was about to head upstairs when the clanking of pots sounded off from the kitchen followed by a series of profanities. Lucy laughed and shook her head, only one person was responsible for such a mess.

"Natsu!" she shouted, startling the guy who was trying to clean up spaghetti sauce on the floor. "Oh my God, what happened here?" Lucy laughed at the mess he created, it was as if a murder was committed and he looked as if he just got caught.

"Luce, why are you home already?" groaned Natsu, wiping the almost-cleaned mess with a towel. "I thought you have a debate until 5?"

"We were supposed to have two debate sessions but I noticed that everyone was still too hung up on summer so I decided to settle with just one, which is why we ended early." explained Lucy, helping Natsu with the mess. She looked up at the dinner table to see that he had fixed a rather formal looking meal for them.

"What's with the set-up?" she asked, admiring the beautifully plated serving of spaghetti, white chrysanthemums that were at the center of the table, and glasses of milk tea. "Did you do something wrong?" she joked.

"Actually, yes." he replied, wiping the spaghetti dirt from his apron and finally removing it and hanging it by the fridge. He was still wearing his school jersey but he was already sporting a pair of black pants that looked incredibly hot on him, according to Lucy. "I'm sorry about the jerk moves I did today. I realized that what I did was really inconsiderate and this is my way of saying I'm sorry."

"I see." smiled Lucy. She really didn't mind about what he did today but him doing this just because he thought he might have offended her squeezed her heart and it just added up to the pile of list of the reasons why she loves him. "Where are my parents, though?"

"They're out town, remember?" said Natsu, pointing to the sticky note that was placed at the fridge that said 'Town.', plain and simple. "They went out to buy some stuff that we need for tomorrow's dinner."

"Oh, yeah." groaned Lucy, massaging her forehead. "I always keep forgetting about these kind of things. Do they know you're here?"

"That's why I'm here," laughed Natsu. "And yes, they do know, actually. They were still here by the time I got here. They even laughed at me for buying your favorite milk tea, saying it didn't go with the mood I was going for and that wine would be better but I said no, thinking you might hit me in the head for offering you wine. Anyways, shall we eat?"

"Sure, I wouldn't want to waste such an extravagant effort from you." said Lucy, pulling the seat and motioning for Natsu to sit. Natsu laughed at this, sat down, and said his thanks. Lucy nodded with a smile and headed to her side of the table. "Least I could do, dear sir."

"How's life, Natsu?" Lucy started. It had been days since they had any alone time together since they were so busy with the starting of classes. Lucy was elected as club president for the Debate Club so she was busy preparing their timetable and gathering possible topics while Natsu was well on his way to being team captain which meant that he was working twice as hard in order for their professor to choose him. "I heard that Gray was kicking your ass today at practice."

"That has got to be the shittiest lie ever." Natsu replied, laughing through his food. " _I_ kicked _his_ ass, Luce. Not to brag or anything, but I'm _way_ better than him. Anyways, how 'bout you? Selection process is approaching right?"

"Approaching? It's already here. We're having it tomorrow and it's frustrating that I have to miss it because of a family dinner." laughed Lucy, savoring Natsu's cooking and constantly wondering when she would be able to have it again. They talked and talked like that, as if their time apart never happened in the first place. Lucy kept thinking about how they were handling their relationship and why can they not spend as much time as other couples do.

"Natsu, I have something to say." Lucy said, picking up the dirty dishes in the table and placing it in the dishwasher while Natsu put the uneaten batch of spaghetti in a container. Natsu looked up from what he was doing and gave Lucy a questioning look. "I want to be able to spend more time with you. Like this, or just lounging by the couch doing nothing, or playing video games, or watching a movie. Can't we do that?"

Natsu placed the container in the fridge and embraced Lucy from behind. "What on earth are you sayin', love? Don't we do those kind of stuff already?" Natsu was confused as to why Lucy was saying this out of the blue since she had always seemed content with the time they spent together during weekends.

"No, I don't mean just that." Lucy started, rubbing Natsu's arms for comfort. "I want to able to run up to you in the hallway at school and hug you, I want to have the freedom to eat lunch with you, and laugh at the stupid things our schoolmates say or do, I want to partner up with you at school activities, and I want to be seen with you at school and not be judged as that "nerd" girl. Do you get it?"

Natsu's heart clenched in pain. He had no idea that Lucy ever felt this way. "Of course we can, Luce. You _can_ do that. But I don't mean this in a bad way, okay? But it's you, you know?" He said, Lucy was now facing him in confusion. "It was you who decided to hide our relationship from the school, saying you didn't want people to get the wrong idea. What's with the sudden change of heart?"

"You know what, you're right." Lucy said, tightly hugging Natsu. She had forgotten about what people thought. Oh God, the horror of people finding out about them. What would they think? Would they assume that Natsu was only dating Lucy out of pity? Or would they think that Lucy was extra fancy and rich that Natsu, _th_ _e_ _Natsu_ _,_ dated her? "I don't want people to get the wrong idea. I'm sorry I brought up such a silly topic."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Natsu asked, rubbing circles in Lucy's back. "We can tell the whole world, you know. I wouldn't care and to be honest, I'd be ecstatic. But if you're not ready yet, then we won't. I won't push you to do things you're not comfortable with. So less worrying, mm'kay?"

Lucy laughed and nodded her head, loving the feeling of having Natsu's protective arms around her and the thought that nothing and no one can harm her as long as his arms are around her.

"There's the two lovebirds." chirped Lucy's mom, carrying a bunch of grocery bags. The two broke off from their hug and Natsu went off to help Lucy's mom. "How was dinner?"

Natsu went back to the kitchen, two bags of grocery in his arms. He set it at the island and kissed Lucy before replying to Lucy's mom who had said something to him when he took the groceries from her arms, and disappearing from the kitchen. "It was great, Mom." replied Lucy, kissing her Mom's cheek. Lucy proceeded to taking out the items from their bags and placing them in their assigned places around the kitchen. "Where's Natsu and Dad?"

"Oh, they're in the garage. Your dad said he wanted Natsu to look at his old car and see if they can fix it so that you can make use of it. It _is_ _a_ waste to just throw it out." Lucy nodded and sat down by the island, finishing her glass of milk tea. Lucy's mother sat down beside her and caressed Lucy's back. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing it's just, these days, I just feel like all I ever want to do is to shout my love for him to the whole world, you know?" said Lucy, biting the straw of her tea out of habit. "I mean I know it sounds kinda corny but I'm just so tired, Mom. I'm tired of all the hiding, of all the misunderstanding because of us not being open to the society. It gets tiring."

"Oh, my baby." cooed her Mom, side-hugging Lucy. "It's okay, that's okay. We will eventually get tired of everything but whenever you do, just think of the reason why you started it. But hun, I think it's time you let the world know. There's nothing to be scared of. If the school is against it, then let your voice be heard. Face this with the heart, mind, and the conviction of the Lucy I know. We'll be here, supporting you. Okay?"

Lucy nodded with a smile, thankful for having a mother who supports her at her endeavors. "Thanks, Mom. But, I don't think I should just yet." Lucy released herself from the hug and stood up, kissing her Mother's cheek.

"Then don't. I trust you enough to know that you know what's best for yourself. But whenever you make decisions that will involve him, then consult with him first. You're a team, so act like one." Lucy nodded and headed off to her room to finish filling up the form that she needs to submit by tomorrow for their annual field tour.

Lucy was focused on not making a single mistake on her paper since the school was incredibly meticulous when it comes to these things. A sudden knock on the door jolted her from her concentration and resulted to her almost mistake. Lucy turned to the door with a glare, only to see Natsu with suds all over his hands. "That bad, huh?" Natsu nodded with a smile and entered Lucy's room without asking for permission. "Can it be fixed?"

"With a little time and effort, yeah." replied Natsu. He sat down in Lucy's bed and stared down his hands. "Is that the form we need to answer for our tour? I heard that it only includes scholars."

"I see, glad to hear it." Lucy lifted the form for Natsu to see and nodded. "Yep, this is it. Be careful answering yours, it says here that we should avoid erasures. I think they've mistaken this for an exam. And yes, it's just us, scholars. It's said to be a joint collaboration between the government and some private schools."

"I don't think I can do a great job at avoiding erasures so why don't you just answer mine?" Natsu said, standing up from the bed and leaving the room to possibly get his form. Lucy returned to answering hers and looked it up again and again to make sure there were no mistakes. "Here ya go." Natsu handed the paper to Lucy. He had disregarded his top and had clean hands.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to strip in our house?" Lucy said. "When Mom sees you, she's gonna flip." Lucy started answering Natsu's form with concentration.

"FYI, it was your Mom that told me to remove my shirt, saying she's gonna put it in the laundry. Anyways, I have to go. Can you just hand that to me by tomorrow?" Natsu asked, opening Lucy's drawer where he puts all of his clothes in.

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for tonight. I really appreciated it." Lucy said, not bothering to stand up. She beckoned for Natsu to crouch, and kissed him. "I wonder when I'll be having a taste of your cooking again. I miss it already."

Natsu laughed and shook his head. He was now sporting a pastel pink shirt and his black pants and Lucy couldn't help but think about the fact that he looked hella _hot_ in his pastel shirt. "There's still some leftovers on the fridge. See you tomorrow."

* * *

 **There it was! I hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I still haven't decided on a fixed update schedule however, I will do my best to update weekly! Thank you very much for your constant support and I will really appreciate your feedbacks! Hope to see you in the next chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4: 過去 (Past)

**Hey guys! I'm back with an update! How was everybody's week? I sure hope you had a better one than me. Anyway, here's the fourth chapter! I hope you enjoy! I've been very busy this week, what with Intramurals coming in our school! I'm so excited! I made this chapter in like four hours straight so please forgive me if it isn't a good one. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy!**

 **Secret Love Chapter Four: Kako (Past)**

 **Previously on Secret Love:** _"FYI, it was your Mom that told me to remove my shirt, saying she's gonna put it in the laundry. Anyways, I have to go. Can you just hand that to me by tomorrow?" Natsu asked, opening Lucy's drawer where he puts all of his clothes in._

 _"Yeah, sure. Thanks for tonight. I really appreciated it." Lucy said, not bothering to stand up. She beckoned for Natsu to crouch, and kissed him. "I wonder when I'll be having a taste of your cooking again. I miss it already."_

 _Natsu laughed and shook his head. He was now sporting a pastel pink shirt and his black pants and Lucy couldn't help but think about the fact that he looked hella hot in his pastel shirt. "There's still some leftovers on the fridge. See you tomorrow."_

* * *

Lucy snuggled to her bed, sleep quickly enveloping her exhausted body. It was a pretty long day so she wasn't surprised when sleep overcame her like a hundred thousand army.

When she awoke, she only had 30 minutes left before the bus came. But for some reason, she didn't want to stray away from the comforts of her bed and get her day started. The thoughts of the upcoming examinations, school trip, debate, and most importantly, Natsu overwhelming her mind.

Nevertheless, she sighed and pushed herself out of her bed and proceeded to get ready for the day. She wore her Heart Kruz dress that perfectly hugged her curves. It had a halter neckline that was enough to not show any of her cleavage, and a semi detached sleeve that reached her arm. The dress ended at her mid thigh, showcasing her legs. She wore a white 2 inch wedge and she had to congratulate herself for actually having the strength to match her outfit. She may not be the hottest girl in school, but she was aware of how great she looks and she was never one to shy away from body fitting clothes. She smiled, nodding her head, completely satisfied with how she looked.

She headed downstairs and was greeted by her parents in the middle of one of their bickers to what she had took to herself to call the 'Weekly Friday Morning Bickers' because for some reason, they always had a topic to argue or 'passionately talk about', as they worded it.

She smiled, still thankful that despite it all, they were still together. She kissed her Mom's cheek goodbye and she did the same with her Dad's. "I gotta go, I'm going to be late for the bus." With that, she was out the door and has started her walk towards the bus stop.

She took out her phone and plugged in her earphones, listening to her favorite band while she stood waiting for the bus to come. Minutes later, the bus came to a halt in front of her. She greeted the bus driver, who she has come to know as Nab before taking a seat at the very first empty seat that she came across, not in the mood to walk all the way to the end of the reasonably long bus.

As the bus turned, they arrived at the neighborhood that she knew all too well. They stopped at the bus stop, waiting for the students to get inside. Lisanna came striding, her smile radiant as if she knew something good was going to happen today. Lisanna sat down at the seat in front of Lucy, not paying her any mind. Lucy rolled her eyes, not letting Lisanna's presence ruin her day. She looked out the window, anticipating to see Natsu as the bus made its way towards his neighborhood.

And there he was. In all his glory and beauty. He looked incredibly handsome in his red and black basketball jacket, his gym bag slung over his shoulder. He ruffled his hair as he waited for the bus to open its doors for him to come in. He stepped in and caught Lucy's eyes instantly.

Lucy felt her face blush. She turned towards the window in the attempt to distract herself from boyfriend's approaching figure. Lucy had previously scanned the bus, noticing that the only empty seat was beside her so she had expected for Natsu to sit beside her. Then, almost suddenly, a guy with pitch black hair had sat beside her and Lucy turned to look at Natsu with a confused look and he stared back at her with a hurt expression. He mouthed her an apology before sitting beside Lisanna, a smile etched on his beautiful features.

And Lucy got it. There were no other words needed. Heck, words were never needed. She understood the front Natsu had to put up and instead, leaned her head against the window as the bus moved again.

They all unloaded the bus and as they did, Natsu slipped a piece of paper in Lucy's hands and gripped it hard for a moment. She remained expressionless and let her hands remain motionless as he looked at her, his eyes full of hope that she would grip his hands back.

Natsu let go of her hand and Lucy headed to her first class that also happened to have with Natsu but instead of going straight to the classroom, she decided to take a detour to her locker to get nothing.

She sighed, disappointed at herself for letting a simple act of Natsu sitting with Lisanna at the morning bus when the two always sat beside each other, in the cafeteria, in the classrooms, every where, ruin her day. The crowd dispersed, everyone too absorbed in their own high school sorrow to pay attention to Lucy's. She closed her locker and slowly banged her head against the metal door, wanting to feel some pain aside from the lingering ache in her heart and mind. She stayed in that position for a few good minutes, constantly banging her head before she caught sight of her watch. There were only fifteen minutes left before class ends.

"I don't think you should do that, Luce." she smiled, looking up and expecting to see Natsu there only to see the one face she didn't think she was ever ready to see.

"Sting," she breathed, her voice so small almost as if her own lungs couldn't bear saying his name. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too, love." Lucy internally cringed as he smiled his million dollar smile. He looked the same, better even. The past two years have been very kind to him. He had a small stubble in his chin, his hair was in spikes and there was a single earring dangling from his left ear. "Well, Dad enrolled me here after they heard from your parents that this was one of the greatest school in country. I just came back from Alvarez."

"Good for you." Lucy said, her tone monotonous. She sighed before ruffling her hair. "Well, I gotta go. I'm already late for class and I don't want to damage my record any further."

Lucy started to walk towards the direction of the room when a hand suddenly grabbed hers. She rolled her eyes before looking back at Sting. "What do you wa-" Sting's right hand pulled her to his direction and planted her back against the cold metallic door of the lockers. Lucy was about to say something along the lines of how dare he when his left hand appeared right beside her head. His right hand let go of her and now lingered at her waist.

"Come on, Luce." He smirked and she hated his guts right then and there. "Don't be such a loser."

"Shut up, Sting." Lucy spat and smacked his hand away from her waist. His once fiery touch now felt disgusting. "Let me go now or else I'm gonna scream so loud they'll think you're some disgusting molester."

"I'd like to see you try." His face inching closer to hers but before Lucy could do anything about his disgusting face getting closer to hers, a fist suddenly connected with Sting's face. Lucy blinked her surprise away and turned to look at Natsu's fuming face.

"What the fuck? Have you been working to get me sent to the fucking principal's office again? And you, " Natsu spat, venom dripping from his words as he turned to glare at Sting. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Lucy tore her attention away from Natsu to look at Sting. He was rubbing at his right cheek and staring at a tooth that flew out because of the sudden impact. "Woah, dude." He laughed, seemingly unfazed by loosing a tooth and by the swelling of his cheek. "Who do you think you are? Suddenly jumping at my face and punching me for what, exactly?"

Sting stood and leveled his eyes with Natsu. He was an inch shorter so he didn't look as scary to Lucy as he might have hoped. "Stop touching her so freely. She ain't a toy of yours to feel."

"Oh, and she's yours?" He joked, obviously unaware of the relationship between Natsu and Lucy. Lucy rolled her eyes and started to walk away, not caring enough to stay behind any longer.

"No, she's not." Natsu replied, and Lucy stopped dead at her tracks, feeling her heart sink at his words. "Lucy ain't a toy for me to play around with, but she is mine. And you're not allowed to tell a single soul alive or else you're dead meat." Natsu turned, not allowing Sting any time to process the information. He followed Lucy and linked his hands with hers.

"What the fuck, babe?" He asked as they walked side by side towards their Literature classroom. "I was wondering where you were since I got to class really late only to see you weren't there yet. So I headed towards your locker room only to see you banging your head. Then as I was about to approach you, that guy cornered you?"

"First of all, what?" Lucy laughed, finding her boyfriend's story funny for some reason. "Second of all, that was Sting. A family friend and my ex-boyfriend."

Before the two could head inside the room, the bell rung and Lucy immediately let go of Natsu's hand as students started coming out of their respective classrooms. With no other words to say, Lucy left Natsu to his own devices, not letting him have enough time to process the information and knowing that he had practice for the next three hours.

The first half of the day rolled as if nothing happened. Lucy kept her attention to class, putting the matter of Sting in the back of her mind. When the bell signaling that class has ended, Lucy proceeded to the cafeteria, eager to finally see her friends after what seemed like eternity.

The cafeteria was bustling with students, as per usual. She quickly scanned her surroundings in an attempt to look for her friends when she spotted them at their usual seats. She approached them only to stop dead on their tracks when she saw Sting sitting beside Levy and Mira.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, towering over Sting's sitting figure. "Why on earth are you sitting here?"

"Oh, hey Luce!" he greeted as if him being there was the most normal thing in the universe. "You see, I'm new and Mira and I were talking about some clubs that are available here then she mentioned about the debate club and I know you love that club so I asked if you were a part of it and ta-da, we're friends now. She offered me a seat in your table."

Lucy felt nothing but the urge to smack his grin off of his face, but she decided to turn to the root of the problem, Mira. "Why? You do know this is Sting, right?" she asked, pointing to the man in question.

"Yeah," Mira replied, clearly unaffected by Lucy's discomfort. "You're childhood friend from Acalypha right? I know him. He's a great guy, by the way."

Lucy groaned and decided not to argue anymore then necessary with the she-devil, knowing that it would get her nowhere when Mira's assumed her 'nonchalant look'. "You know what, I don't care anymore. We've only got a few minutes for lunch and I'm not going to waste it over you." she spat, sending daggers to Sting's direction.

She sat down beside Levy and ate as fast as she could, doing her best to ignore the overly excited puppy on her far left. "So Lucy, why'd you break up with him?" Lucy looked up from her food and stared at Cana, disbelief evident on her face.

"Can we not talk about it?" Lucy pleaded, not in the mood for the conversation that was going to take place.

"I'm willing to tell ya." Sting offered, his plate cleared from any sign of food. Cana and the others eagerly nodded their heads and looked at Sting. He smiled and began, "You see, Lucy and I have been the best of friends for years. We were childhood friends and knew each other from our parents who were business partners. We met when we were, what, 5?" Sting asked, looking at Lucy for confirmation.

"Four, you dumb shit." Lucy muttered, not wanting to be a part of the conversation but also did not want for the facts to be incorrect.

"Right, 4." he smiled, unshaken by Lucy's foul words. "So then, we became really close because our parents often brought us with them on their trips and we had no one to talk to but each other. When we turned 10, my parents and I moved to Magnolia where Lucy and her family currently lived and we all decided to live there permanently."

"Lucy and I got closer and we went to the same school and all, then somewhere along the way, I developed some sappy feelings for her, and apparently, she did as well." he continued, "So I decided to ask her out when we turned 13. Then after a few months, my family and I relocated all the way to Alvarez."

Everybody turned to Lucy, expecting her to finish the story. "What?" Lucy asked, her plate finished. "Fine. So after four months, without any warning whatsoever, Sting and his family moved to Alvarez and left me behind. That's why we broke up. Happy?"

"Very." Everybody answered in unison. "By the way, does he know, Lucy? About you and, you know?"

"Yeah," Lucy answered. "This idiot, over here, tried to hit on me and Natsu saw him and ended up punching him right on the face. Lost a tooth, and received a swollen cheek. I mean look at that."

"Oh, I see. So that was where this came from. You got this from her boyfriend, huh? Tough luck." Sting nodded, his smile a statement of his uncaring nature. Mira turned Sting's cheek from everybody to see. Lucy was about to reach over to touch his swollen cheek when a booming sound echoed throughout the cafeteria and silenced everyone.

"OKAY!" Everybody turned to the source of the shout to see Natsu, staring at Lucy with a frustrated look. "Come on, Ice Princess. We're gonna be late for class."

"OH, speaking of the devil." Sting said, "HEY, LUCY'S-" Levy and Mira were quick to shut him up by covering his mouth with their hands. Lucy's eyes widened at his outburst and turned to look at Natsu.

"Shut up, Pyro." Gray answered, his eyes trained on Sting. "We ain't gonna be late just yet but sure, let's go." His eyes turned to Lucy and he let out a mouthed 'whoops' before picking up his tray and leaving.

"Oh, good God." Lucy muttered, her head resting on her hands for support. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble later."

"Stop it, Lu." Levy said, caressing her back for comfort. "Release this moment from your mind and just focus on you dinner later. You'll need it. Come on, we should go as well." Lucy nodded and picked up her tray, while everybody followed.

The other half of the day flowed smoothly. Aside from the fact that Lucy shared two classes with Sting, one which she shared with both Sting and Natsu, she thought that the afternoon was clearly the better half of the day. Miss Aquarius dismissed them for the day, only asking them to hand out a reflection paper about their topic for the day.

"Luce," Sting said, approaching Lucy. "Let's hang out. We haven't seen each other in ages and I think we should go to that little shop we used to go to. You know, that Korean one?"

Lucy sighed, not wanting to talk to Sting when Natsu's clearly in the room, glaring daggers at them. "I cant'. We have a family dinner tonight and you know how that goes." Lucy said, her voice was indicating that she was disappointed but this was the first time she was thankful that they had a family dinner.

"Oh, that's unfortunate." Sting replied, his backpack flung over his shoulder. "Well, next time I guess. See ya tomorrow." He said, waving her goodbye as he went out of the room.

"You won't, you psycho. Tomorrow's a Saturday." she muttered. She proceeded to packing her things and went out of the room without sparing Natsu a glance. She walked all the way to the mini convenience by the end of the school's grounds where nobody bothered to come because there were better stores around the area and probably because it was too far for anybody's liking. She whipped out her phone and sent Natsu a text.

To: Anon

 _Hey, I'll be waiting here at the convenience store. Anything you want?_

Without a minute passing by, her phone dinged. Signaling that she had a new message.

From: Anon

 _an ice cream would have been great but i brought my car. see ya in a bit._

Lucy chuckled at his name on her contacts and exited the messaging app from her phone to read some stories that Levy asked her to proofread while she waited. She was on her second chapter when a pitch black Jeep Wrangler with red outlines stopped in front of her.

Natsu came down from the car and stared at Lucy. "Well? Aren't we leaving? We're gonna be late." he said, enjoying the way Lucy ogled but also scared about being late for tonight's dinner.

"O-oh, uh, yeah. For sure." Lucy answered, snapping out of her daze. She hurriedly packed her bag and went to the other side of the car.

"Seat belt, please." Natsu said, turning the ignition. "Let's go." And they were on the road. They exited the school grounds with much staring. Thanks to the tinted windows of the car, the ones who stared lovingly at Natsu's car couldn't see that she was inside.

They arrived at Lucy's house and saw that the neighborhood was packed with luxurious cars that were owned by her parent's guests. She sighed before grabbing Natsu's hand for support. "Ew, your hands are hella sweaty." He commented. Lucy turned to Natsu in frustration and tried to pry her hand off of him. "Kidding, Luce. Kidding! You can do this." He said, kissing her on the cheek.

Lucy didn't have any other relatives besides her aunt that lived on the other side of the country. The ones who were here were her parent's business partners who have built a sturdy group of companies with them and these kinds of dinners were named family dinners despite them not being their real family. "It's a way to tightly knit bonds, Lucy." as her mother liked to say.

"Lucy, dear!" One of her father's friends shouted, greeting Lucy. She immediately plastered on a smile on her face. Tired, but genuinely happy to see her uncles. "It has been too long since I last saw you. And Natsu! I see you're as doting as ever!"

"Yeah well, wouldn't want anybody taking her." Natsu jokingly commented. They both shook hands and she did the same with everybody else. They exchanged greetings and talked a bit. She decided to stay close to Natsu as she didn't want to feel awkward walking alone in a room filled with dignified adults.

"Natsu, I gotta go change for the dinner. Aren't you?" Lucy asked after they greeted the last person.

"Oh, yeah. I don't think I should eat wearing these." He said, pointing out to his basketball jersey jacket. "Besides, I'm hella sweaty."

"Okay, go on. I'm just going to tell Mom." Lucy said, leaving Natsu's grip for the first time that night to look for her Mom. She decided to look for her in the kitchen since that was where her Mom liked to spend her hours in these kinds of get-together.

"Mom, we're just going to go change. Would that be alright?" Lucy asked when she finally saw her Mom, talking to some of her friends at work.

"Sure, no problem. Be back in time for dinner, alright. I don't think I have the time to call you. 7 sharp, okay?" Her Mom answered.

"Yeah, I know. See you." Lucy said, nodding to her Mom's friends before going to her room to change.

When she arrived, Natsu was already wearing a loose red button up shirt and black pants. He was focused on a video game that he had going and didn't notice Lucy's arrival. She cleared her throat to catch his attention, to which he only briefly looked at her, nodded, and went right back to his game.

She smiled with a sigh and decided to rummage her dresser for some clothes. She got a pink dress with a V-line neck out. She was about to go inside her bathroom to wear it when she heard Natsu clear his throat. She sighed before turning to look at him. "What?" she said, exasperated.

"Nah," he replied before turning back to his video game. Lucy rolled her eyes and went back to her closet to put the dress back. She looked for other dresses and found the one that she liked.

"This, maybe?" she asked, turning to face Natsu. It was a white formal dress that hugged her curves but also did not showcase any of her cleavage. Natsu made an unsatisfied face before looking back at his video game. "Oh come on, if you're gonna be like that then just pick one. I'm not a mind reader, stop making me guess!"

Natsu grunted before pushing himself off of her bed. He approached Lucy and pulled out a red, turtle neck dress with a heart shaped cut in the collarbone area. The dress had a slit running along its left side that reached her mid-thigh. It covered her arms and the length ended at her ankles.

"You just wanted us to match, didn't you?" She inquired to which Natsu shrugged his shoulders and turned off his video game. He sat at Lucy's bed and stared at her. Lucy rolled her eyes and decided to change into what Natsu had picked. She curled her hair and pulled it into a pony tail. She wore minimal make up and decided to take one last look at her reflection before getting out of the bathroom. "All done, let's go. It's already 7."

"Okay," he said before approaching her and wrapping his arms around her waist. He pulled her towards her and sweetly placed a small kiss on her lips. He smiled and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, and on the small area where the dress didn't cover her collarbones. "You look extremely beautiful. Not a compliment, by the way, just a simple fact."

Lucy smiled at this before releasing herself from his hold and holding his hand. They both descended down only to see that everybody had already started eating. She smiled at everyone she met eyes with and they both entered the kitchen to eat.

The dinner ended with everybody's stomach full and one by one, they all left. Lucy, Natsu, and both of her parents saw them off. The guests thanked them for their hospitality and whispered some jokes to Lucy's ears and teased Natsu endlessly.

After the dinner, Natsu and Lucy went to her room to change and play video games. Well, Lucy read a book while Natsu played, to be precise.

"Aren't you going home?" Lucy asked, looking up from her book to check the time. It was already 10pm, way beyond Lucy's curfew but since Natsu didn't have one, he seemed fine.

"Eager?" he teased, looking at her. Lucy blushed at his gaze and was about to say something when he beat her to it. "Yeah, I should. It's already late. See ya." He said before getting up from her bed. He removed his button up shirt and got a navy green shirt from his part of the drawer and wore his jacket.

Lucy stood up from her bed to see him off when he hugged her, "You don't have to see me off. Rest, you need it after today." He jokingly stated to which he received a smack on the shoulder form Lucy. "Ow," he said, rubbing the area.

"Anyway, I'm leaving." He said before kissing her on the lips with much gusto, leaving her breathless when he ended it.

Lucy nodded her head, her face flushed. "Send me a text when you get back." She said before watching Natsu nod his head and exit her room.

She could hear Natsu bidding her parents goodbye and she decided to see him off through her bedroom window. She saw him approach his Jeep and enter. He rolled down the windows and waved her goodbye to which she returned the gesture with a flying kiss. He pretended to catch it and smacked it against his chest, his eyes forced shut in fake hurt. He opened his eyes and smiled at her, waving his hand that had 'caught' her kiss.

Before she knew it, he was gone. His Jeep riding in the night and out of sight.

* * *

 **A/N: I KNOW! STING RIGHT? Buttt, don't pay him any mind for now since he isn't that much of a big thing in this chapter! You'll see his use. Not now, but maybe in the future! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I'm sorry if it seemed rush but that's because it is! I really have to go right now but I just had to post an update!**

 **Please leave a review, it'll greatly help! Thanks, lovely readers!**


	5. Chapter 5: デート (Date)

**Hey guys! I'm back with an early update! I don't think I could update twice this week because I'm going somewhere by the weekend. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this week's update. I was really feeling giddy as I wrote this so I hope you feel the same way as you read it.**

 **Oh, and a shoutout to lovely _Drowsy K._ who left a review that just made my week! Thanks a lot, love! Anyway, I ain't gonna keep you any longer, enjoy my dear readers! **

**Secret Love Chapter 5:** **デート (Date)**

 **Previously on Secret Love:** _She could hear Natsu bidding her parents goodbye and she decided to see him off through her bedroom window. She saw him approach his Jeep and enter. He rolled down the windows and waved her goodbye to which she returned the gesture with a flying kiss. He pretended to catch it and smacked it against his chest, his eyes forced shut in fake hurt. He opened his eyes and smiled at her, waving his hand that had 'caught' her kiss._

 _Before she knew it, he was gone. His Jeep riding in the night and out of sight._

* * *

After Natsu left to go home, Lucy decided to take a shower and relax her tensed muscles, not that she had much. When she entered her room, she decided to do a quick scan. It had only been a few minutes since Natsu left but she could feel it. She could feel the loneliness oozing out of every corner of her now empty room and she hated it. She sighed, knowing that there was nothing she could do since she can't keep Natsu for too long or else his parents would get suspicious. Sure, Natsu could just say that he's staying over at Gray's or that he got his practice extended but she knew Natsu wasn't capable of that because yes, Natsu hated that they practically arranged Natsu for some girl who had some pretty good connections but it didn't mean that Natsu hated them because they did raise him and boy, did they raise him good.

Lucy's eyes wandered to the half opened drawer at the bottom of her closet. She reached to close it only to realize that it was where Natsu kept all his clothes for when he needs them. An idea came unto Lucy's head and it wasn't a particularly bad one. A huge grin was etched into Lucy's face as she opened it further and grabbed a random oversized shirt and she felt excited as she wore it.

She had to admit, she had done this before but the feeling of wearing her boyfriend's clothes never seemed dull to her. In fact, it made her feel excited. She never knew why but if she were to guess, she would answer that it was probably because of the way that even after they were put into the laundry, it still smelled a lot like him, and sometimes on days when she felt the most lonely from being away from him, she swore it just radiated his warmth.

The warmth that made her feel that everything was going to turn out fine in the end because that was how it always was with him. Lucy closed his drawer and opened another to get some underwear. She smiled as she strode to her bed, completely satisfied with how her day went because despite the wreck that was the appearance of Sting., and despite Natsu punching his face and nearly being sent to the Principal's office (again), she knew that it was all worth it after all the effort Natsu exerted the past few days and she knew it was all worth the wait.

She knew a few minutes with him would be worth waiting an eternity for. It was all worth the shit. It was all worth the loneliness. He was worth it all. This was the last thought that entered Lucy's head as she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Lucy awoke to the banging on her door. She grunted and groggily sat up on her bed, resting her sleep induced body on the headboard of her bed. She muttered some incoherent words, cursing at whoever had the indecency to bang her way awake. She rubbed her eyes, forcing them to drop any remnants of her sleep and scratched her way to her head. She finally turned to look at the culprit who had the guts to force her awake at one of the days when she could actually have some decent sleep.

She glared at the pink-headed bastard, hating the way he was grinning so early in the morning. When they first started dating and when he first tried to wake her up in the morning, she never thought that Natsu would be a morning person. But here he was, smiling widely and leaning against her door frame. "What." Lucy spit, her voice rough from sleep.

"Why, aren't you the sexiest thing in the morning." Natsu chuckled, stopping when he noticed what she was wearing. "Why, aren't _you_ the _sexiest_ thing in the morning." He repeated, this time with some kind of sexual tension seeping from his words. He inched closer, finally leaving the door frame.

Lucy grunted as she forgot what she was wearing. If she knew that he would be coming to wake her up, she wouldn't have decided to wear his shirt to sleep because she knew. Oh, she knew. She knew how much he liked it when she was wearing the clothes he owned and she hated it when his pride sky-rocketed.

"Luce, do you even know how _beautiful_ you look?" he whispered, now sitting at the edge of her bed. Lucy rolled her eyes at his comment, knowing that he was bathing himself in the moment. "Luce, oh good God, Luce." Lucy turned to Natsu to see him smiling. No, not that grin he had on before but a genuine smile that conveyed his feelings completely. Lucy felt her cheeks heat up from his smile. His words had little to no effect on her but his actions killed the living soul out of her.

"Shut up, let's go get breakfast." Lucy turned to remove the covers from her body when she felt his strong grip on her arms. She looked at Natsu in confusion because this was breakfast they were talking about. He can't possibly refuse food. Before she knew it, Natsu was pinning her down her bed. She had to admit, his towering figure turned her on. "Natsu, stop it. We can't, Mom and Dad's home."

"Oh?" Lucy was confused with the expression he held on his face. "I didn't want to do what you're thinking though." He irked her. He really did. The smug look that was plastered on his face as she processed what he just said and the smile that was forming on his face as she felt her face heat up from embarrassment.

"I hate you." She muttered, not finding the courage to shout so early in the morning.

"Aw, but you know you love me." Natsu gushed as he crashed his body down on her and wrapped her on a bear hug. Natsu turned to have them face the side, their eyes meeting on an unspoken conversation. His lips formed to a small smile. His smile shouted a thousand words. It proclaimed his love for her in a way that nothing else ever could.

Lucy returned a bashful smile, happy to be in the arms of the person she loves. "What are you doing here so early in the morning?" she asked, curious as to what was the cause for his unexpected visit. When they were still in the first few months of their relationships, Natsu started their weekend mornings with him showing up unannounced and waking her up. Every weekend was different. One time he woke her up with a shy knock and trudged his way to her bed and lied down beside her, waiting for her to wake up. There was also a time they were already much more comfortable with each other when he woke her up with a breakfast in bed and that was the time that Lucy knew she was completely in love with this dork and with his quirks and with his silly smile, and with his heart, but most of all, with his cooking.

Those kinds of weekends diminished as time passed by. He got busier with his practices and Lucy was forced to wake up without him being her first sight. "Come on, Luce. I do this every time, why are you still asking?" Natsu answered with a slight chuckle. Lucy threw a small smile his way, sadness enveloping her heart with the fact that Natsu forgot how frequent he used to do this and with the fact that he had done this less and less went by unnoticed to him. "Now, get up. We've got a lot of catching up to do." There it was again. His goddamned smile that just sent butterflies in her stomach and filled her heart with warmth and told her that he was right, he always did this. So why ask?

* * *

Lucy couldn't believe her luck. Just the other day, she was having one of the worst lunch breaks in her life and now here she was, holding hands with _the_ Natsu Dragneel. Even after everything, even after dating for two years now, she still couldn't believe that she was actually dating Natsu. She stared at Natsu, her heart still beating extra fast from being in the same space as him, and breathing the same air as him. "Like what you see?" Natsu smirked, looking away from the road for a split second.

Lucy's eyes widened as she got caught. "Shut up," she muttered, attempting to break her hand free from Natsu's hand but he wouldn't budge. "Keep your eye on the road."

"Sure, Luce." He chuckled. They were currently on their way to one of Magnolia's largest malls with different amenities jam-packed in three inter-connected buildings. "By the way, what were you thinking that got you all tomato faced?" He teased, his voice dripping with humor.

Lucy squinted her eyes, slightly annoyed that he caught her and was now making fun of her. Then, an idea hit her mind. It was definitely his turn to be annoyed now. "Well, I just couldn't believe my luck, you know." she started, smiling kindly but her urge to smirk was trying to get in her way. "When I was in seventh grade, I never imagined that I'd get the chance to date anyone. Much less the campus crush who not only was handsome, also had a six-pack, a car, a decent brain, _and_ money! Who would've thought?" Lucy said, her voice seeping with sarcasm and humor.

She knew he hated it when she mentioned his reputation when it was just the two of them because despite him seemingly enjoying himself at school, he actually hated it. And she even threw the car card which was the second no-no in his book. And she just had to end it with the money game. Oh, he was annoyed and she knew it.

"Fine, I'm sorry for making fun of you." he grumbled. He was getting used to her taunting by now that he wasn't even fazed anymore but he knew it could get worse so he apologized quickly before their day deescalates any more than this. He gripped her hand tighter and pulled it to him, smiling at her before kissing the back of her hand.

Natsu let go of Lucy's hand, and she missed his warmth almost immediately. She settled her hand on her lap noticing that they were nearing the mall. Natsu entered the parking lot and drove around for a few seconds before finally finding an empty spot. Lucy unbuckled her seat belt and reached behind her to fetch her purse. She was happy with the leg space Natsu's Jeep had and much more with the back seat space it provided. It was just so convenient when they went out shopping. Before Lucy could even open her door, Natsu beat her to it and even offering his hand to assist her. She gladly took it and they walked towards to mall like an ordinary couple as if they had nothing to hide.

"What are we doing here today?" Lucy asked, curious as to what Natsu had prepared. They both had a deal that they would take turns in planning for their date and it had been very effective as there was never a dull moment. And because they both took turns, and with a car, and financial stability, they didn't have to worry about their date being redundant because they were never fresh out of ideas.

But today. Today was weird. They never went to the mall because that was where their schoolmates typically hung out. They usually went out of town and did something that they couldn't do in theirs. "Well, this week wasn't really one of your best so I thought that this was what you needed." He smiled, and there it was again. The warmth spreading, the butterflies flying around and the secure feeling she has whenever he's around.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, not understanding what Natsu meant. She turned to look at Natsu only to see him smiling ahead, so she turned her gaze to their hands and thought they were missing something. She linked her hand with his and turned to look at his eyes. "I thought something was missing, turns out it was this." She said with a grin etched on her features.

They both spent their sweet time going around the mall before turning left to head inside the department store. Natsu turned to Lucy with a questioning look, wondering why she was leading the way when he was supposed to be the one setting up today's date. "I saw this cute key chain that I really wanted to buy and dangle in my backpack but I was in a hurry last time. I hope it's still here." she said, answering Natsu's unspoken question.

Natsu nodded and followed his girlfriend around. Lucy turned to a corner where it had all these different types of cute chains that you could hang with your keys or backpack. She approached the section that held different kinds of Sanrio characters and picked one that looked like an egg. " _This,"_ Lucy started, holding up the egg character for Natsu to see. "is Gudetama. Isn't he the cutest?" Lucy gushed, swinging Gudetama from left to right with a huge smile, satisfied that she found the one she was looking for.

"It's an egg, Luce." Natsu deadpanned. Lucy frowned, not understanding why Natsu didn't find the little lazy egg cute. "And what is he even doing? Hiding on his egg shell? That's ridiculous."

"Shut up," Lucy said with a pout, turning to walk away from Natsu to pay for her chosen chain. She didn't care that Natsu didn't like it because to her, Gudetama was a perfect reminder of a certain someone who feels lazy. "Besides, I only even liked Gudetama in the first glance because he reminded me of you when you're being lazy." she muttered, not wanting Natsu to hear.

"Oh?" Natsu said, surprising Lucy. "I guess I should get one as well. You should have told me that in the first place." He teased, making Lucy's face redden with embarrassment. Of course he heard that, she forgot that his hearing was hella good. Natsu left Lucy's side to choose one that he liked. When he came back, Lucy saw that he opted for one where Gudetama was asleep with strips of bacon wrapped across his body, acting like a blanket. "Ilike this 'cuz it reminds _me_ of a certain someone when she's asleep." He chuckled before linking his hand with hers and leading her to the cashier to pay for their new chains.

Lucy rolled her eyes at his silliness. When they finished paying, she kept their purchase inside her purse since it was small enough. She turned to Natsu as they were exiting the department store, "Where to next?" she asked with a small smile gracing her features.

"Well first of all, we should eat. I'm hella starving." Natsu said as they went up a floor higher where all of the best restaurants in the mall are located. Natsu hummed as they walked, his thumb brushing Lucy's hand in a steady rhythm. Lucy smiled, clearly satisfied from the simple act. "Where should we eat? Any ideas?" Natsu turned to look at Lucy and she blushed, embarrassed that he caught her smiling in the air.

"Uh, how about some traditional Japanese? We haven't had that in a while." she offered, knowing how much Natsu loved Japanese food. She looked at Natsu to see his face turned in question. "Okay, I see you're not up for that." Lucy said, nodding as she looked around, thinking about what to have for breakfast. "Oh! How about some Korean cuisine? I'd kill for some tteokbokki now." She gushed, her mouth watering at the thought of having her favorite spicy rice cakes.

"Hmm," Natsu hummed, remaining unconvinced of Lucy's offers. "Nah." He said before looking at Lucy, expecting her to have some more offers.

"What do you really want? Just tell me." Lucy sighed, already knowing where this was going. Natsu had the tendency to ask her for her opinions when it comes to food and when she told him about it, he agrees to nothing. And when asked about what he really wants, he just replies with, "Anything you want." Natsu said with a grin.

Lucy sighed for the second time and voiced out everything that was available in the mall, "Okay, this is the last one, Natsu. It's got to be this one." Lucy said as they stopped in front of an Army Navy. Natsu shook his head and led her away and dragged her inside a restaurant she's never been to before. She looked around and decided that this was going to be one expensive breakfast.

A waiter led them to a table for four but since there seemed to be little to no customer, Lucy didn't mind. Lucy picked up the menu only to choke from the prices. "Natsu, I don't think this is worth it. Let's just go to McDonald's. We'll just shit 'em anyway."

Natsu looked up from his menu to stare at Lucy, "I wanted to eat steak though." He said, clearly unfazed by the over-the-top price of the food that the restaurant served.

"I don't think steak is a good choice for breakfast." Lucy said, scratching her arms as a sign of discomfort. Natsu noticed and reached across the table to hold her left hand that was scratching her right arm.  
"It's okay, I've had it loads of times now and as you can see, I'm looking hella fine still." He grinned, his eyes reaching his ears in a clear sign of happiness. "Just order some pancakes or something, I know you like 'em." He said, turning back to look at his menu but without letting go of Lucy's left hand.

Lucy nodded and held her menu with her right hand. The waiter came back and Lucy still hasn't finished looking for the cheapest pancake in the menu, so she told the waiter to take Natsu's order first. "I'll just have my regular and some soda. And she'll have some of your strawberry pancakes and a vanilla shake." Natsu finished.

Lucy looked up from her menu to stare at Natsu, then at the waiter who just nodded and said, "Got it, Sir Natsu." Lucy turned to look at Natsu again who was playing with her left hand with both of his hands. She nudged her hand to get his attention and he looked up, staring at her with a loving smile. "What was that? I wasn't finished ordering yet, and what do you mean regular? He knows you?"

Natsu chuckled, finding Lucy's confusion cute. " I looked at the menu not because I couldn't decide what to eat, I looked because I knew you were going to have a hard time choosing so I decided to choose for you instead. And yes, I'm a regular here. They know me 'cuz I often eat here back when I was still single."

Lucy scrunched her eyes in suspicion. "I bet you brought _all_ your girls here." She said, teasing Natsu. She decided to let the matter go and tease him instead. Natsu chuckled and looked back at their hands which were still intertwined.

"Yeah, actually." Lucy's eyes widened, clearly not expecting that kind of answer from him. Her eyebrows furrowed as she waited for Natsu to finish. "I brought Lisanna here once." He looked up from their hands to observe her reaction.

"What?" Lucy said with a laugh. She didn't mind that he brought Lisanna here once, she just found it ridiculous that he did. "Really now?"

"Yeah, back when our parents first introduced us." He started, confident that Lucy wasn't the kind of girl who got jealous at every little thing and was someone who openly accepted his past. "She wanted to eat at this Sushi Conveyor restaurant but I wasn't in the mood for Sushi so I told her about here. So yeah, this was where we ate it when we first met 'cuz I was craving for some meat."

Lucy nodded and smiled, liking how Natsu never kept anything from her. "Well, I'm just happy I get to eat some gold-filled pancakes today." Lucy said, chuckling. Their orders arrived and Lucy's mouth watered at the sight. Her plate had five layes of golden pancakes that had strawberry filling, topped with fresh strawberries and covered with vanilla cream. Lucy turned to Natsu to see him already digging in. Lucy laughed and proceeded to cut her pancakes when a voice interrupted her.

"Why, isn't it Fairy Tail's Number 1 Crush?" Lucy turned to face a boy with raven-colored hair who was looking at them with a lopsided smirk. He turned to Lucy and his smirk grew. "Oh, and he's with Fairy Tail's top student?"

"Oh, Gray!" Natsu said, greeting his friend. "Wait, Gray?! What the heck are you doing here?!"

* * *

 **A/N: OOOOHHH! GRAY FOUND OUR LOVELY LITTLE OTP ON THEIR DATE! I'm sorry for the cliffhanger, even I hated it! How do you think will Gray react? Leave your reviews on today's chapter! Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6: 謝罪 (Apology)

**Before anything else, I crammed this, so it may not be that good (well, this story isn't really that good to begin with but you know what i mean). I have been very busy this past few weeks and I'm just very grateful that I had the time to write at all and that there are people who still read my story no matter how crappy it is so to all my readers, I love you!**

 **Secret Love Chapter 6:** **謝罪 (Apology)**

 **Previously on Secret Love:** "Why, isn't it Fairy Tail's Number 1 Crush?" Lucy turned to face a boy with raven-colored hair who was looking at them with a lopsided smirk. He turned to Lucy and his smirk grew. "Oh, and he's with Fairy Tail's top student?"

"Oh, Gray!" Natsu said, greeting his friend. "Wait, Gray?! What the heck are you doing here?!"

* * *

"Woah, calm your ass, flame-brain." Gray said with a chuckle. Lucy's eyes widened when she saw who was behind Gray. "I'm just here to enjoy a meal with my girlfriend, no need to be all agitated."

"Juvia!" Lucy stood up from her seat to greet the blue-haired lady who was holding hands with Gray. Juvia came out from behind Gray to receive Lucy's upcoming hug with a smile. "How was the member selection? I was so worried!"

"Oh, it went fine. Juvia thinks that Levy has chosen some pretty good people." Juvia said with a warm smile. Lucy beckoned Juvia to sit beside her on the table that she shared with Natsu and they continued their talk there, completely forgetting about their boyfriends until both of them coughed simultaneously.

"We're still here, you know." Natsu muttered, clearly annoyed that his day with Lucy got interrupted. Gray had a scowl on his face which indicated his disapproval of the turn of the events.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Lucy gushed, not meaning the apology the least bit. "Have a seat, Gray. I need to talk to Juvia for a while about the selection. I'm getting antsy about it as the day goes by."

Gray took a seat beside Natsu and they were on their own world, where only banters existed. A waiter came up and took Gray and Juvia's order and they decided to eat together.

"Tell me, Juv. Who did Levy choose? Were they any good?" Lucy asked as she sliced her pancakes. "I mean I trust Levy and all, you know. But I can't help but get worried because we have different styles and preferences."

Juvia's eyes lit up as she talked with her friend and giggled before saying, "You can trust Juvia, Lucy. The club's new members are really good at their stuff." The conversation flowed until Lucy was reassured again and again by Juvia that the new members aren't going to cause the downfall of the well-known club.

The table of four was silent until Gray cleared his throat and everybody looked at his way, curious as to why he decided to clear the air even though it wasn't even awkward to begin with. "I, uh, I wanna apologize, Lucy." Lucy looked at Gray to see that his eyes were traveling from his plate to her eyes.

"About what?" Lucy racked her brain about anything that Gray could have done that he needed to apologize for. Her eyebrows scrunched in confusion, signaling that she didn't remember a single thing. She turned to look at Natsu to see that he was already looking at her and by the looks of it, he knew what Gray was talking about.

She gave Natsu a questioning look to which he only shrugged, "I wanna apologize about what I said during lunch time." Lucy turned to Gray who had finally decided to speak up. Lucy's eyes widened in recognition. "I didn't mean it, I hope you know that. I just needed to remove any suspicion our friends have over Natsu."

"What? What do you mean?" Lucy asked, looking back and forth between the two boys. "Why did you need to 'remove any suspicion'?" She continued, using air quotation for emphasis.

"Well, ash-brains here, kept on staring at your table and Lisanna saw him." Gray said, giving Natsu a glare. Natsu turned away and continued eating. "Then Gajeel saw him and teased him about liking, well, nerds?" Gray said, unsure if it was okay to call Lucy that.

Lucy gave Gray a smile, accepting the stereotype that they placed upon her group of friends, only because it was Gray who said it and because she knew that he meant no harm. She nodded her head, signaling Gray to continue.

"So yeah, flame-brain got all red-faced and flustered so I had to step up. My point is, I had to say that because I had to save flame-brain but if you can't accept my excuse then I just wanna say sorry from the bottom of my heart."

Lucy laughed as Gray became flustered as she remained silent seconds after he was done talking. "Lucy, I-I hope you understand. I would never have the guts to look down on you guys. I mean I, myself, am dating Juvia and she's one of you. Juv, I didn't mean it in any negative way, okay? I like you the way you are, and, -oh God!"

The whole table erupted in fits of laughter as Gray planted his arms on the table and covered his face with his hands, clearly embarrassed by his little speech that started with an apology and ended with a declaration of love to Juvia. "Juvia is fine, Gray. After all, Juvia knows what you mean." Juvia's smile radiated warmth and the whole group, besides Gray, shook their heads at Gray's little outburst.

"Yeah, Gray. It's fine." Lucy smiled as she finished what was left on her plate. "Sure, I was a bit hurt and a lot angered by what you said but don't let it get to you. I never hold grudges." Lucy looked at Natsu to see that he has long finished his food and was now staring at her with a smile on his face.

"Should we go?" Natsu asked, reaching over the table to touch Lucy's hand. "I've got a lot planned for today." Lucy nodded her head and smiled, excited to be spending the day with Natsu.

They both turned to Juvia and Gray who were beside them, also finishing up their meals. Gray nodded his head, indicating that they were almost done as well. Natsu's hand left Lucy's to call for the waiter for the bill and returned to Lucy's as fast as it had gone.

The waiter returned with their bill and handed it to Natsu who asked for it. "Your payin' for your meal, ice freak. I refuse to give you a free meal." Natsu said as he placed his card atop the bill and passed it on to Gray.

"'Course I am, I refuse to be given a free meal by an ash brain like you." Gray spat as he took out his own card and placed it beside Natsu's. "Split the bill, please. Both of us are together, so I'm paying for our meal with this card." Gray said as he pointed to Juvia then to the gold card that was placed beside Natsu's own gold one.

Juvia and Lucy shared a look before shaking their heads with a laugh at how childish their boyfriends were getting when they were together.

The waiter nodded and bowed before leaving, and returning to their table shortly after to return their cards and hand them the receipt. They all stood up from their seats and exited the restaurant. "Well, we'll get going now. See you at school?" Lucy asked the couple as they stood in front of the restaurant.

Juvia nodded her head and gave Lucy a hug. "Juvia can't wait for Lucy to meet the new members. Juvia's sure that you'll like them." Lucy smiled and waved at Gray who was glaring daggers at Natsu.

"See you never, ash brains." Gray spat, before looking at Lucy with a smile and a wave before turning back and heading towards the opposite direction.

"Shit face, he really thinks I can't take him on." Natsu muttered as he held on to Lucy's hand while they walked around the mall. "I can't believe we ran into him today. He should be thankful that I'm with you that I'm such in a good mood that not even his presence could change it or else I'm sure I'm gonna pulverize his face."

Lucy laughed as she rubbed her thumb with Natsu's hand. "I still can't believe that Gray was the first one to find out about us. I mean, I really thought that Levy and the others were going to find out first. Who knew he had such great instincts?"

"Nah, it's not that he got great instincts." Natsu replied, his anger subsiding. "I've just been really obvious about it. Can't say I was surprised though. He was the first person to ride my Jeep besides me so he knew how my ride looked before you, and we've known each other for forever now so I think he'd notice that I was staring a bit too much at a certain girl."

Lucy looked away from Natsu to hide her blush. "Why? What did you Jeep look like before me?" She asked, curious as to how he kept his ride before she started riding it.

"Oh, it was a mess, Luce." Natsu said with a laugh. "I had all these wrappers on the floor, clothes, and even my shoes. I basically lived there. So when we started dating, I had to clean up a bit, you know. Can't have a lady smelling my sweat and stinky feet. Then, because Gray knew how my Jeep looked before you, he knew that I had a girlfriend and because I just kept on looking around the room until you came in and once you did, all I did was stare at you. He connected the dots and that's how he found out."

"He asked me about it, and I confessed that we've been dating for a few weeks by that time." He laughed, scratching his neck with the free hand that he had. "I didn't see the reason why I had to keep it away from him and I was sure that he wouldn't judge so I freely told him about you and how it all happened."

"You say that you don't want me smelling your stinky odor and feet but why do I feel as if that was a lie?" Lucy said, laughing. Natsu grumbled as he denied. "Oh, stop grumbling. You know it's true, you're incredibly disgusting and you know it. You just dump your sweaty jersey on your sports bag and I have to be the one to get it out before it smells any more."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." Natsu said, before leading Lucy to an arcade. The couple played until they ran out of tokens and proceeded to turn it into a competition as to who could win the most tickets. In the end, they both had an even amount of number tickets.

"I think we have enough for a prize, don't you think so?" Natsu asked, looking at the paper that indicated that they had over a thousand tickets now. Lucy nodded and approached the corner of the store that had all the prizes.

"What do you want?" Lucy asked Natsu who was also looking at all the stuffed toys and other things that you could choose to exchange the tickets that you accumulated with.

"I think I'm gonna have the Aquarius stuffed toy." He answered, pointing to a blue mermaid by the top side of the wall. "I like how its eyes remind me of yours." He said with a snicker.

Lucy's brows furrowed before looking at the mermaid's eyes to see that it had an annoyed expression on its face and its eyes had turned all white from frustration. "Wha-, how could you?" Lucy spat, "Tell me which part of that angry mermaid does it remind you of me. Because I honestly can't see it."

Natsu laughed, "How can you not? You look like that now!" He howled as he pointed at the mermaid again. "Excuse me, Miss. Can I have that mermaid right there that looks exactly like this woman beside me?"

"Are you referring to the Aquarius mermaid, sir?" the lady by the counter asked, also not seeing the similarities between Lucy's blonde hair and the mermaid's blue hair. Natsu nodded with a grin and hugged the mermaid close to him as he received it from the lady in exchange for the piece of paper that showed their number of tickets.

"How 'bout you, Luce?" Natsu asked, satisfied with his prize. He turned to look at Lucy and couldn't help but stare at how serious she was being. His small smile broke into a grin as he looked at his girlfriend, happy to finally spend some time with her.

"Hmm, I don't really see anything I like." Lucy trailed, she pouted as she scanned the whole wall dedicated for the prizes. She found it questionable how even with the wide variety of prizes, she still couldn't see anything she liked.

Before she could tell Natsu to spend her own tickets on whatever he liked, a man in a blue suit that seemed to be the arcade's uniform for its workers appeared with a big bag on his shoulder. The man placed the bag down and took out a bunch of dragons that looked the same except for their colors.

"Oh, I know what I want now!" Lucy exclaimed, pointing to the red dragon that reminded her a lot of a certain man. "Can I have that red dragon that just arrived?" Lucy asked the woman by the counter, hoping that they didn't need to be displayed for a few days before she could bring the dragon home.

"Sure, let me just get that for you." The woman said before grabbing the dragon and exchanging it for Lucy's piece of paper. "Here you go, I hope you enjoy. Come again!" The woman said as the couple turned around to leave the arcade. Lucy wrapped her arms around the red dragon and turned to Natsu with a smug grin.

"Looks like I found something that reminded me of you." Lucy said and stuck her tongue out to him.

"No fair, if I knew that there would be dragons coming I never would have chosen this." Natsu muttered, seemingly upset but still wrapping his left arm around the mermaid and entwining his right hand with Lucy's left. "But I don't regret it. I love having another something that reminded me of you." He said with a grin.

Lucy felt her face heat up from his words and his actions so she scoffed to try and hide her blush. "I'm very happy with my choice too. Now I have something to cuddle with at night." She said, teasing Natsu. Lucy knew Natsu gets unreasonably jealous at her stuffed toys that get to sleep with her at night.

Lucy turned to look at Natsu to see him with a pout and he turned to glare at the dragon. "Well, that dragon still can't defeat the real deal."

The both of them continued their stroll inside the mall until Lucy's phone dinged, indicating that she just received a text from somebody. Lucy let go of Natsu's hand to fish her purse for her phone. She finally felt her phone inside her purse and pulled it out to see that she had a text from her Mom.

"Mom's saying dinners about to be ready." Lucy said to Natsu, still not letting go of her phone so Natsu opted in linking arms with her. "Should we head home?" Lucy asked, not yet ready to go home but since it was her Mom, she couldn't ignore it.

"Sure, it's almost 8 anyways." Natsu said, having a hard time linking his arms with Lucy as he had tons of shopping bags in his arms with him. "And I don't think I can hold on to any more bags. I swear, going shopping with you is a more strenuous activity than training."

"Oh shut up," Lucy said as she sent a reply to her Mom and returned her phone to her purse. She removed Natsu's arm from hers and linked her hand with his. "It's not that much of a drag."

"Yeah, right." Natsu muttered as they headed towards the parking lot. "Thinking of what to say every time you try on an outfit is tiring, you know. You look great in every single one so I always run out of words to say every time. What am I supposed to say when you look great at everything and you accuse me of not meaning my words because they're as you say, 'redundant'?"

Lucy rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, knowing that she does mean what he was saying but whenever she tried on an outfit, she could always question his honesty. "How am I supposed to believe you wholeheartedly when you look so bored and out of your mind when you say it?" Lucy accused, smiling at Natsu despite their argument. "And besides, these bags aren't mine alone, you know. Almost half of these are yours so stop complaining when I know that you are enjoying as well."

Natsu laughed, embarrassed that Lucy had caught him. When they arrived at his Jeep, Natsu opened the back trunk and tossed half of their shopping bags there before closing it and tossing the other half at the back seat. "See? Our bags can't even fit in the trunk." Natsu said as he sat in the driver's seat and turned on the ignition.

"Yeah, yeah." Lucy laughed as she fixed her seat belt. The whole ride to Lucy's house was filled with songs being played and sang with their hearts. They both enjoyed listening to each other. Natsu loved it especially when Lucy sang along with a melodic song and Lucy loved it when Natsu sang along with a raspy one that just matched his voice.

Before they knew it, another song had ended and Natsu had already turned to a stop in front of Lucy's house and they wasted no time in disembarking the Jeep to take Lucy's share of the shopping bags into Lucy's room and arrange them.

The couple was greeted by Lucy's parents setting up the table for four. "Oh, I won't be having dinner here today." Natsu said apologetically. He looked hilarious with his face scrunched in disappointment and Lucy's shopping bags in both of his arms. "I was thinking of having dinner at home. I haven't had my Mom's cooking in a while and I kinda miss it."

"Oh, okay dear." Layla said, kissing Natsu's cheek. Lucy loved how honest Natsu was with her parents, and she couldn't help but smile at the interaction between them. "I understand. Then, will you be leaving as soon as you're finished with setting up?"

Natsu nodded, clearly still feeling sorry about not being able to eat with Lucy's family. "It's okay, young man. As parents, we also would not like it if our child would much rather eat at another family's house than ours. There's no need to feel sorry." Jude said as he patted Natsu in the back, silently telling Natsu and Lucy to go on with their business.

Natsu smiled at Jude and went up the stairs while Lucy stayed behind for a few seconds. "Thanks Mom and Dad." She said before kissing both of their cheeks and following Natsu to her room.


	7. Chapter 7: 変更 (Change)

**I'm sorry for not being able to update for like three weeks! WOW! Anyway, I never had the time to re-read this so please, if there are any typos, please forgive me! I swear, I got so busy these past few weeks and I don't think I will be able to update next week either because exams are coming up, so I want to apologize in advance.**

 **Anyway, I hope everyone appreciates this little side chapter! As an apology, I decided to write Natsu's POV! I hope you enjoy! I worked hard on this, despite it not being the best lol.**

 **Secret Love Chapter 7:** **変更 (Change)**

 **Previously on SL:** Natsu nodded, clearly still feeling sorry about not being able to eat with Lucy's family. "It's okay, young man. As parents, we also would not like it if our child would much rather eat at another family's house than ours. There's no need to feel sorry." Jude said as he patted Natsu in the back, silently telling Natsu and Lucy to go on with their business.

Natsu smiled at Jude and went up the stairs while Lucy stayed behind for a few seconds. "Thanks Mom and Dad." She said before kissing both of their cheeks and following Natsu to her room.

* * *

The next week rolled on like usual, but instead of Lucy being stuck with Levy and the rest of her girl friends, there was one blonde-haired man who refused to stray away from her.

"Sting, when will you stop following me around?" Lucy asked Sting as they ate their lunch in their usual table in the cafeteria. Lucy could feel Natsu's gaze burning holes through her skull, probably questioning her why she was sitting beside Sting.

"Never, I missed hanging out with you." Sting smiled as he ate his lunch beside Lucy. "Hey, I saw this girl, Yukino. I think she's really cute."

Lucy rolled her eyes at Sting. She knows that he didn't mean harm and that he was only hanging out with her because they used to be the best of friends and judging by how he was acting, there is a big possibility that he thinks that they still are.

"I can't believe you two used to date! Don't you feel awkward at all?" Cana asked, a flask in her hand which contained alcohol, no doubt. Lucy rolled her eyes, expecting the question to come sooner or later. She turned to glare at Sting who had let it slip in the middle of a gossip session with the girls.

"Nope," he answered, popping the last part of the word. "I mean, we've always been really great friends and we were still hella young back in the days. I only asked her in a whim, really. I just thought that the atmosphere needed it."

Sting's answer was followed by a series of giggles. They all looked at Mira who was laughing through the food in her mouth. "What's so funny, Mira?" Levy asked the white haired beauty.

"Nothing, it's just-" Mira couldn't finish her sentence as she exploded in another fit of laughter. Mira heaved a breath as she calmed herself, clutching her possibly aching stomach. "It's just, how does a mood even _need_ a spontaneous romantic question like that? It may fit, sure. But _need?"_

Lucy sighed at this, agreeing with the white haired woman but not being in the mood to answer. "Anyway, to finish this topic, no it's not awkward at all. We're friends and that's it and I agree that whatever romantic thing we had for each other faded over the years and it's never going back. Happy?"

Cana smiled as she nodded and finished what was left of her bottle. The bell rung, indicating the end of their much treasured lunch break. They all gathered their table scraps and returned their trays in their proper place before parting ways at the halls of the school. Levy left with Cana as they both had the next class together while Mira left to go to the school's library since she had to finish their group's research. "Should we go as well? I wouldn't want to be late." Sting asked Lucy as they both waved their hands to bid their friends goodbye for now.

Lucy nodded her head, not exactly hating Sting's presence. They both started walking towards their next class which was Calculus. They reached a part of the halls that were already deserted since there were no other classes in the first floor by the end of the day since the noise coming from the Student Athletes' practice made it practically impossible to hold a decent class. Lucy _hated_ Calculus because of the location of the classroom and she inwardly groaned as she has to endure another session of never-ending shouts coming from outside.

As they both turned to go inside the classroom, Lucy felt something hot touch her lips and she looked at Natsu's retreating figure. He held a wide grin on his face, possibly happy from taking Lucy off guard. "See you later, Luce!" He shouted as he waved her goodbye. Lucy raised her hand in confusion, waving slowly as she stared at Natsu who was now punching Gray's arm, his cheeks tinted with a pink flare.

Lucy laughed at the thought of Gray teasing Natsu about the surprise kiss and got inside the room to see that the two of them were the first ones to arrive. A few minutes later, the class was overflowing with students taking their seats and pulling out their notebooks, a clear sign that they were ready for class.

The day rolled on much like usual, their teacher giving them another homework to do but thankfully this time, it was to be done by pair. Lucy and Sting simultaneously looked at each other and smirked, knowing that Calculus was never going to be a challenge when it was the two of them together.

 _ **NATSU'S POV**_

Natsu opened the doors to the cafeteria and immediately looked around, hoping to find his blonde-haired girlfriend. When he couldn't, he turned to follow Gray to line up to get their food and sat down in their table. The usual people were already there; Lisanna, Gajeel, Laxus, and a few of Lisanna's girl friends.

As Natsu was about to sit beside Gajeel, Lisanna called out to him. Sighing, he knew he couldn't ignore her when she was being like this, her voice strained with fake plea and her eyes staring right at his very soul. He moved to sit beside the girl while Gray took the spot beside him. "Where the hell is she?" Natsu muttered beneath his breath, stabbing the poor apple on his plate and shoving it to his mouth.

He looked around, desperate to have at least a glance at her beauty before hell begins and by hell, he means practice. "Dude, stop it. You're doing it again." Gray said, his voice low enough for only Natsu to hear.

"What?" Natsu asked, pausing to look at Gray. It had been a few minutes since lunch began and he was expecting Lucy to show up any time now so his minutes were precious. He couldn't let his day end without seeing Lucy blessing the cafeteria with her presence. That would just be ridiculous.

"You're looking around again and Lisanna's starting to stare at you." Gray replied, not withdrawing his attention from his food. "They'll be here soon, so just behave and eat your food."

Natsu huffed as he looked away from Gray and took a few bites from his food before he saw Mira, Lisanna's older sister come in and he knew that Lucy wouldn't be long now.

Minutes had passed and a Heartfilia was still not in Natsu's field of vision. He was now starting to have the urge to go over to Mira and Cana's table to ask them where on earth Lucy was when he heard Lucy's heart clenching laugh from across the cafeteria as she entered.

He felt himself smile at the thought of Lucy being in a good mood until he saw Sting beside her, probably talking about something funny. Natsu frowned, not knowing what to make of the situation. Sure, the two had always been good friends and the man has known Lucy even before Natsu had but that didn't stop the overflowing thoughts of confusion and jealousy coursing his veins as Lucy clutched her stomach in pain from all the laughing that she had been doing.

"Okay, _now_ you're making it all so obvious." Natsu heard Gajeel but he couldn't process the taller man's words as he just stared at the blonde haired beauty. "What the fuck's wrong, Salamander?"

"Huh?" Natsu turned to Gajeel at the mention of his alias. He had been caught off-guard by his friend's sudden question. "What do ya mean?" Natsu asked, trying to act casual and brush it off.

"You look hella weird." Gajeel said and Natsu could feel Gray's annoyed look sending daggers through his idiotic brain. "Tell me, do you have a problem with blondie or are you just _that_ constipated?"

"What, blondie?" Natsu asked, trying to stall and provide himself with enough time to think about his answer. He furrowed his brows, deciding to embarrass himself rather than blowing up his and Lucy's cover. "I, uh, had these really painful stomach cramps. I don't know, man. They come back from time to time."

"You've _got_ to stop mixing tabasco with everything, Natsu." Lisanna said, giggling and Natsu had to admit, it wasn't exactly _that_ annoying. The only problem with it was that it was not Lucy's nor was it anywhere near her's.

Natsu rolled his eyes at the group's comment about his fake stomach cramps and diverted his attention to the now eating blonde. She was sitting beside Sting, her brows furrowed in annoyance as she talked. Natsu released a hearty laugh at his girlfriend's expression.

Of course, his sudden chuckle did not go unnoticed by his group of friends. He turned to them, "Oh, I just remembered something popsicle idiot here did a while back." Natsu said, gradually getting better at coming up with impromptu lies and excuses.

He got back to the pretty scenery right in front of him. He continued on lovingly gazing Lucy from afar, like a fan admiring his crush from the distance. Moments later, faster than Natsu had liked, the bell rung. Indicating that Natsu's little break had ended, and so did his act of looking at Lucy's beautiful face that openly showed her emotions.

"Well, flame-brain and I have to go. We've got training in the Right Wing Ground of the school. See you all later." Gray said as he ushered Natsu out of the cafeteria. They were almost out of the doors when they heard the usual giggle come their way they both had to suppress the urge to groan.

"Aren't you going to lead me to class, Natsu?" Lisanna asked with a smile and Natsu tried his best to return it before nodding and linking his arms with Gray's to not let the little bastard escape this time.

"Oh, Gray doesn't have to come." Lisanna said with a confused look. "He might get late to practice, and I wouldn't want to be held responsible for that."

"Yeah, but if _I_ came with you then I'd be late so I'd better have Gray with me so that it won't be just me alone." Natsu said, nodding to Lisanna and going out of the cafeteria to come with Lisanna to the second floor of the building.

Natsu spared Lucy's table a glance only to see that they had already finished cleaning up their tables and were now on their way to the halls. Natsu smiled as he remembered that Lucy had Calculus class today and that their classroom was perfectly on his way to the school's South Wing. Now he just had to dash all the way there to catch her and finally have some of her attention even for just a second.

After they had dropped Lisanna to her next class, Natsu dragged Gray's arms along and hurriedly ran all the way to the South Wing of the school grounds to catch Lucy. Natsu couldn't care less with being late. He just wanted to have some of his girlfriend's addicting attention.

"What the hell, dude?" Gray shouted as he ran along with Natsu. The two now long disconnected from their little arm-bonding and were now running alongside each other. "Are you _that_ scared of being late?"

"Nah, man. Don't care 'bout that crap." Natsu said with a chuckle as Lucy came into view and he couldn't help but notice Sting beside Lucy as well. He rolled his eyes, slowly accepting the fact that the two had classes that they shared every now and then.

"Psh, I see." Gray said with understanding as he saw Lucy's figure as well. Natsu ran faster than Gray had ever seen the man run and he slowed down to grab Lucy's shoulders and kiss her right then and there, in front of Sting and Gray.

Natsu let go of Lucy's shoulders and admired the way her face turned from shock, to confusion, to embarrassment, and lastly, to that cute little face she always did whenever she felt giddy. Natsu's smile turned to a wide grin as he saw Lucy's cheeks turn to a bright red. "See you later, Luce!" He shouted before opening the doors that led to the South Wing of the school.

"You've fallen deep, dude!" Gray said with a laugh as they slowed to stop in front of a large field where a few of Gray's teammates had already started doing their warm-ups. "Anyway, see ya later. I don't think coach's there yet so I better hurry." Gray said, raising his clenched fist and offering it to Natsu.

"Shut up, you're just as bad." Natsu laughed as he fist-bumped his friend and turned on his heel to go to the gym on the right side of the wing.

Natsu opened the doors, thankful to see only their team's assistant coach setting up for today and writing down agendas to be accomplished by the end of their four-hour practice session.

* * *

Natsu wiped his forehead as he sat down the bench and looked at all the aspiring first years do their best to impress the coach and let them be a part of the team's regular.

Natsu dumped his sweat drenched towel on his gym bag and whipped out his phone to send his favorite girl a text only to see that he had one text from her.

From: Luce

 _I'm going over to Sting's to do some Calculus homework. I just wanna get it done by today. You know me lol. Anyway, don't wait up. Love you x_

Okay _now_ this whole Sting-and-Lucy-being-close-friends deal is starting to get annoying by the minute. Honestly, he couldn't care less when Lucy was hanging out with some guy friend she made, but going over to his _house,_ doing God knows what behind closed doors? He trusted Lucy, this he was sure of, but the guy? Not so much.

And to top it all off, it was _Sting_ -fucking- _Eucliffe_ we're talking about here. They used to be the best of friends and they dated each other at one point of their lives which meant that they held some kind of romantic attraction towards each other at one point, though it was not that strong to last a whole year.

But still, it irritated Natsu to the point that despite his sore body shouting for rest and just a comfortable bed, he pushed himself and sent Lucy a text saying to send him Sting's house's address so that he could pick her up when they were done and bring her home.

Natsu waited for a few minutes for Lucy's reply to no avail. He decided to just start packing up and get ready to go. Just as he was picking up his bag and bid the coaches and his other teammates goodbye, he felt his phone buzz. He ignored it all the way to the parking lot and got inside his Jeep before opening his phone.

He unlocked it to see that Lucy had sent an address to a place that Natsu knew all too well.

* * *

Natsu put his Jeep to a stop as he looked at the posh looking white house that was the Eucliffe household. He sent Lucy a text saying that he had just arrived and immediately got a reply back saying that she was just getting ready to leave.

While waiting, he looked around Sting and Lisanna's neighborhood. Unsurprisingly, Sting's family was also filthy rich. He scanned his surroundings to locate the Strauss household only to see that they were still a few meters away from it. Just as he was starting to get bored, the door to the white house opened and out came two blondes.

He could see Lucy saying something to Sting with a frown on her lips. Natsu groaned, hating the way her lips pulled down to a frown. Their small talk seemed to take a bit too long for Natsu's liking and Lucy's frown was just deepening as time went by so he did what he thought he should do.

He slipped his arm inside the driver's side of the car and punched the steering wheel, a loud beep erupted, catching not only Lucy and Sting's attention but probably the whole neighborhood's as well.

Lucy turned to look at Natsu and he loved the way her face lit up at the sight of him, her smile making him feel giddy on the inside. "Let's go." He mouthed, motioning for them to leave. Lucy nodded before looking back to Sting and the frown made its way back to her face.

She pointed her index finger to Sting's face and muttered a few more incomprehensible words. Sting kept nodding with that silly little grin of his that made Natsu want to punch its way out of his pretty face. Natsu saw Lucy huff before she rolled her eyes and descended.

"What was that all about?" Natsu said with a chuckle, grabbing Lucy's backpack from her right shoulder and tossed it to the back seat of his car. He followed Lucy to the passenger seat and opened its door before Lucy could. He shut the door and made his way to his side. Not sparing Sting another glance, he turned on the ignition and started the car.

"Nothing." Lucy started, right after the car started. "We weren't able to finish the homework. I mean, I finished my part of it but I don't have the confidence that Sting will do it if I weren't there which was why I offered to keep an eye on him. I just wish he finishes it before the deadline."

Natsu let out a huff before turning to Lucy, "You and your need to finish and submit homeworks before the deadline. I swear, cramming is so much fun."

Lucy let out a snort and Natsu turned to her in amusement, happy to see that she was being her usual self, and not the smart, dependable, school version of herself. Now, she was just Lucy. Lucy who was kind and smart and pretty and humorous, and most of all, understanding. "Cramming is never fun."

"Sure it is!" Natsu exclaimed, his free hand reaching over to Lucy's side to grab a hold of her hand. "The adrenaline rush is amazing."

"Pft, you and your love for adrenaline rush." Lucy said, covering Natsu's hand with her other hand. "But I guess it is fun, once in a while, to be overcome by the need to complete the assignment before the deadline and by the fear of failing if you were unable to finish on time."

"Are you being sarcastic right now, Heartfilia?" Natsu asked, his voice dripping with inquiry and humor.

"Not at all, Dragneel." Lucy said with a laugh. Lucy removed her right hand from their intertwined fingers and turned the radio on. The song "What You're Missing" by the band R5 blasted. "Oh, I love this song. This was the song you played when you were still _begging_ me to give you a chance."

Natsu glared at Lucy, making her giggle more. "I did _not_ beg you. I merely asked you to give your poor little nerd ass a chance at having a boyfriend." Natsu's statement transformed Lucy's small little giggles into full blown laughs with a mixture of snorts here and there.

"Suure," Lucy said in between laughs. The car slowed to a stop and Natsu hurriedly got out from the driver's seat to open Lucy's side of the door. She unbuckled her seat belt and accepted Natsu's offer in helping her get down from his elevated car.

Natsu opened the back door of the car and grabbed Lucy's back pack from the back seat and handed it to her. "Do you still have time to talk?" Lucy asked, slinging her backpack in her shoulder.

Natsu nodded, unable to deny Lucy of his attention despite his lack of sleep and now, energy. Lucy gave him a heart-warming smile and Natsu could feel his energy coming back to him. He followed her to the inside of her house only to see that both of her parents were out of town yet again.

Natsu went straight to Lucy's room while she stopped by the kitchen to get them some snacks. Natsu opened his drawer and changed into a plain white shirt before collapsing in Lucy's bed, her scent intoxicating him.

He felt metal clank against the glass of the circular table inside of her room and he looked up to see Lucy placing down freshly sliced apples down and a glass of water beside it. "I'm just going to go change okay?" She said and left Natsu alone to change without even waiting for his reply.

Natsu stood up from the bed, his hunger getting the best of him and grabbed the metal tray from the table and lied back down again in Lucy's bed. When he was on his sixth slice of apple, Lucy reemerged, wearing pink shorts and an oversized tee that was clearly one of Natsu's old shirts.

"What did you want to talk about?" Natsu asked, his voice muffled by the food inside his mouth. Lucy twisted her face in disgust but spoke nonetheless.

"It's just that the Senior Ball is coming up and I want to discuss with you what your plans were." Lucy asked, lying down beside Natsu and snaking her way towards his arms. Natsu happily welcomed her presence and discarded the tray of apples, letting it rot on Lucy's bedside table. He wrapped his left arm around her waist and slipped his right beneath her neck, supporting her.

"Well, remember when I went home last earlier than usual last day to have dinner at home?" Natsu asked and he felt Lucy bury her face in his neck and nod. "We talked about the Ball and they wanted me to take Lisanna, so I thought, why not, right? I mean, I _did_ do it last year as well, I don't see what could go wrong."


	8. Chapter 8: 始まり (Beginning)

**I updated! Wow, I can't believe it. Though you'll have to forgive me if there are any typos and whatnot because I haven't had a single minute to spare for the past few weeks and continuing this story in just eating my time most of the time. Instead of studying, I find myself wanting to write.. I don't think I can update next week because of Finals and camping (ugh!). Oh and I want to apologize for the short chapter, I wanted to add some more but I didn't have the time T.T**

 **Again, I'm sorry for the plausible typos that you'll encounter and thank you for continuously reading my story no matter how crappy it is! I love you all :)**

 **Secret Love Chapter 8:** **始まり (Beginning)**

 **Previously on SL:** "Well, remember when I went home last earlier than usual last day to have dinner at home?" Natsu asked and he felt Lucy bury her face in his neck and nod. "We talked about the Ball and they wanted me to take Lisanna, so I thought, why not, right? I mean, I _did_ do it last year as well, I don't see what could go wrong."

* * *

"Well, remember when I went home last earlier than usual last day to have dinner at home?" Natsu asked and he felt Lucy bury her face in his neck and nod. "We talked about the Ball and they wanted me to take Lisanna, so I thought, why not, right? I mean, I _did_ do it last year as well, I don't see what could go wrong."

"I understand. I expected that, to be honest with you." Lucy said, her voice muffled by Natsu's scarf. "I guess we're not going together again this year. Will you be okay with that?"

"No," Natsu said and Lucy felt his throat move when he spoke. She laughed and tightened her grip on Natsu's waist, she pressed her ears closer to his chest, loving the way his heartbeat hammered against his chest. "But I'll have to do my best. Wouldn't want a remake of last year's ball."

Lucy laughed at the memory of Natsu completely ignoring Lisanna because he was too preoccupied with keeping an eye on Lucy's date that the night ended with Lisanna and Natsu never being able to dance even once.

"She ain't the best girl out there, ya know, but I think she deserves a dance." Natsu said, making calming circular motions on Lucy's back. He felt Lucy nod and he couldn't help but release a contented sigh escape his lips.

"What about you? Who are you planning to take?" Natsu asked Lucy, already dreading whatever answer she would give him.

"I don't really care that much." Lucy said, her voice light and stress-free. "I mean, of course I care about the whole ball. I _am_ a part of the committee, after all. But date-wise? I could care less about it. I'm just gonna go with whoever asks first."

" _What?"_ Natsu asked, finding Lucy's nonchalant behavior towards her date unbelievable. He pulled back to look at her face and she stared back, her face blank. "Didn't it take you forever to choose last year?"

"Well, that's because I was uncomfortable with everyone except you." Lucy answered, loving the way Natsu pushed back a few strands that had fallen to frame her face. "Now, however, Sting's here. And if he isn't going to take me, then at least I have some guy friend I could dance with besides my date and I think that his presence will make the ball a bit better for me."

Natsu sighed, hating the possibility of not being Lucy's date again, much less take her dancing. "I hate this stupid ball." Natsu muttered, burying his face in Lucy's hair. He couldn't help but take a full breath of her scent, a mix of vanilla and strawberries, his favorite aroma of all. "I wanna take you dancing too."

Lucy felt herself laugh at Natsu's childishness. They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, comfortably wrapped under Lucy's blanket, their arms entangled, and their heartbeats beat in sync.

A thought popped in Lucy's head and she abruptly raised her head, causing Natsu's face which was resting in her hair, to get hit by the sudden movement. "Ow!" Natsu shrieked. He touched his chin and rubbed the area, willing the pain to go away.

"I'm sorry!" Lucy laughed and took Natsu's hand away and replaced it with hers. She continued rubbing his chin and whispered soothing words to make the pain make go away. "I'm sorry, I just thought of something and got too excited."

"Kiss it away." Natsu muttered, a pout forming in his face. Lucy looked up at him with a confused look. "The pain will go away faster if you kiss it. That's common knowledge, how do you not know that? Are you some kind of romance noob?"

"Wha-? Of course I know that!" Lucy hastily said, feeling her cheeks redden at his comment. "I just didn't think it's a good idea. It _is_ a bit corny when I see it happen in dramas and whatnot." Lucy stared at Natsu for a couple of seconds before deciding to just do what he asks to stop him from pouting and grumbling incoherent words.

Just as she was about to place a peck on his pained cheek, Lucy felt Natsu shift and connect his lips with hers. Her once rosy cheeks turned full-blown cherries at his sudden action. "Wha-!, What do-, what do you think you're doing!?"

Natsu smirked and pointed at his chin, tilting his head up. "It's hard to resist you when you're puckering those lips of yours. Now kiss me here." Lucy released a huff, annoyed that his flirty side had shown up yet again but kissed his chin nonetheless. Natsu nodded and tilted his head down, his hazel green orbs meeting her brown ones. "Now, what was that idea of yours?"

"Well, you said you wanted to dance with me, right?" Lucy asked, confirming his words and he nodded. His face contorted from flirty to intrigued. "I just thought that it'd be a great idea if we had our own ball here, at home. And then we can dance the night away _and_ we even get to have full control over the songs."

Natsu's eyes lit up with happiness. "That's a great idea, Luce!" He exclaimed as he tightened his hold on her and engulfed her in a bear hug. "Why didn't I think about that?"

"I guess we're settled now, yes?" Lucy asked, her face squashed in Natsu's chest. She felt Natsu nod enthusiastically and place a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"I love you, Luce." Natsu said, his voice soft. "And only you, always."

"I don't really know, Natsu." Lucy said, teasing him. "I mean, I can't _always_ love you. You _are_ annoying for like, 90% of the time." Lucy laughed as she heard him mutter in annoyance, telling her how she just ruined the atmosphere.

* * *

"Aren't you excited for the ball, Lu?" Levy turned to look at her blue-haired friend, Levy. They were currently waiting for class to start and seeing that they were almost an hour early, the two had plenty of time for chatter. "I'm looking forward to my gown! I wonder how we'll look like this year?"

Lucy laughed as her friend blabbered on and on about the upcoming ball. She loved how enthusiastic Levy could get when it comes to school events and so she chose to let her finish because answering the petite girl's question.

Lucy shrugged as Levy repeated her question, "I'm excited about _planning_ the winter formal, sure. But attending it? Now that's a different story."

"What? Why would you not be excited about coming? Do you not want to come?" Levy asked, concerned. The blue-haired lady had always been the one to love events where they could all hang out together. "If you're having an issue with your date, I'm sure I could ask Jet or Droy and I'm certain that they'll be more than happy to have you."

"It's not that, Lev." Lucy laughed, scooching closer to Levy. She attached both of their chairs and leaned on Levy, enjoying the little bonding time they had. "As you know, Natsu and Lisanna's got the whole arrangement ordeal going on and his parents want him to go with her. Seeing as nobody knows about Natsu and I apart from you guys, it's impossible for us to go together. And it's the last year of high school and I want us to go together.. but I don't think that's possible."

Levy stared at her blonde friend and sighed, thinking that if only her friend was as open to her boyfriend about these kind of stuff as she was with them, maybe they wouldn't be having this problem at all.

"I can't really blame him either, seeing as I'm the reason that we can't be together at school. I just don't know what to do anymore. I feel like I'm hanging on edge these days and that it'll take me just a small misstep to confess to everyone about us." Lucy finished, her eyes blankly staring at the whiteboard.

"We can't really tell you what to do with your relationship, Lu. But I do think that this has got to stop." Levy started, wrapping her small arms around Lucy's figure. "Reputation? Scholarship? I don't think all those things are worth jeopardizing your relationship. What you have is too precious, and I hope you realize that."

"I do, Lev, I truly do." Lucy sighed, letting all of her most inner thoughts spill in front of her best friend. "It's just that I'm scared that his parents won't accept me and that scares me more than anything else. You know how they've already chosen Lisanna for him and it's not only for strengthening their business, it's also because they genuinely like her."

"How do you know that?" Levy asked, rubbing soothing circles in Lucy's shoulder. Just as Levy was about to speak again, Sting enters the room and looked at the two with confused eyes. Levy looked up and noticed how Lucy wasn't aware of Sting's presence.

"What's wrong?" Sting said, noticing Lucy's glum demeanor and decided to mouth his words instead so as to not surprise her. Levy shook her head and mouthed "Later.", before turning her attention back to the gloomy blonde in her arms.

"Natsu told me. I'm just thankful he's open about his past with her and that he's truly honest with me, or else I think I would've lost my mind." Lucy replied, releasing a sigh that she had held on for so long.

Levy pulled back from the blonde and grabbed both of her arms, turning Lucy to face Levy's determined eyes. "Stop it! Stop all this gloominess!" Levy exclaimed, slapping both of Lucy's arms in hopes of making her best friend's mood brighter. "We're going to have a blast preparing for the winter formal! And even if we don't get to come, at least we were able to change our classmates' night into something magical! Let's go with that mindset! Okay?"

Lucy's eyes widened, surprised at how fast Levy had gotten her mood up. She nodded and wrapped Levy in her arms, silently thanking the blue-haired lady for being there for her.

"Yes, I think that's a great idea. Thanks for cheering me up." Lucy sighed against Levy's shoulders. Just as they broke apart from their hug, they noticed that half of the class had already arrived.

 _ **NATSU'S POV**_

"It's not that, Lev." Natsu turned to a full stop as he heard Lucy's voice right before entering the room. He had been so excited to see Lucy again, and in class this time, that he had forgotten how early he actually was.

"As you know, Natsu and Lisanna's got the whole arrangement ordeal going on and his parents want him to go with her. Seeing as nobody knows about Natsu and I apart from you guys, it's impossible for us to go together." Natsu heard Lucy continue, a frown starting to appear on his face. Why didn't she talk to him about this? Shouldn't she be confiding with him instead of Levy?

"And it's the last year of high school and I want us to go together.. but I don't thunk that's possible." Natsu was about to barge in on the conversation the two girls were having when a cold hand grabbed his shoulder, stopping him. He turned around to see Gray shaking his head.

"What? I can't just stand here and listen?!" Natsu silently exclaimed, slapping Gray's hand away from his shoulder. He had to talk to Lucy about this. It had been a few months now since she slipped and said something about wanting to go public with their relationship and yet when he tried to get her to talk about it, she tried to cower away.

If she felt this way all this time, she had to tell him. He loves her and he could care less about what his parents think about what they have. "You idiot." Gray said, snapping the pinkette from his small mind-rambling. "If you go in there now, she'd just close the topic like she always does. If you two keep on doing this foolishness, your relationship will start to break before you know it."

Natsu sighed, not in the mood to ask Gray about what he meant. "If I don't get her to talk about this with me, we'll graduate with regrets and I don't want that for the two of us. I'm fine with not being okay about her going with some other dude at the ball but her? I don't want her to think that I'm choosing her over Lisanna because of my parents, and I sure as hell don't want her to graduate with regrets, because I'm fine with me having 'em but I don't want her to live her life with regrets. Do you even get what I'm saying, droopy eyes?"

"Yeah, I actually do, flame brain. Which is why I decided to ask Juvia out for the Winter Formal. I mean it's not that we're hiding it like you guys, but we decided to make it official now. I want all those jerks that keep bothering her to realize that she has a boyfriend now and that they have _got_ to stop their flirting." Gray answered, bitterness evident on his voice.

"Natsu? Gray, too?" The two turned their heads to face a mess of blonde hair. "What are you guys doing here? Have you been eavesdropping this whole time?"


	9. Chapter 9: 寂しさ (Loneliness)

**Hey, lovely readers! I just want to thank MasterGildarts for being such a lovely person and appreciating the work I've put into this story, thanks a lot, love! I hope you and everybody else, continue to support me and my stories and I would like to apologize if things aren't as moving as I hoped it would..**

 **Anyway, it's the semestral break! Which meaaans, NO CLASS FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK! WOW! I hope to write a lot of stuff this week and to get this story going and start on new projects as well! I'm so excited! See y'all soon!**

 **Secret Love Chapter 9:** **寂しさ (Loneliness)**

 **Previously on SL:** _"Yeah, I actually do, flame brain. Which is why I decided to ask Juvia out for the Winter Formal. I mean it's not that we're hiding it like you guys, but we decided to make it official now. I want all those jerks that keep bothering her to realize that she has a boyfriend now and that they have got to stop their flirting." Gray answered, bitterness evident on his voice._

 _"Natsu? Gray, too?" The two turned their heads to face a mess of blonde hair. "What are you guys doing here? Have you been eavesdropping this whole time?"_

* * *

Natsu and and Gray stared at Sting, his backpack slung over his shoulders. "We have this class together?" Natsu asked. How many classes did Sting have with Lucy? Did he have all of his classes with Lucy?

"Yeah, and if you're thinking about why you always see me in classes that Lucy has, that's because I signed up in every possible class she has." Sting said, answering Natsu's unspoken question. "I mean when I first came here, the thought of Lucy having a boyfriend never occurred to me."

Natsu released a sigh, hating the fact that he had no control over the situation. He was fine with Lucy having guy friends, as long as they kept their hands to themselves. Having that guy Loke hang around Lucy during P.E and Debate was bad enough, now he had to deal with another one? And this time, he had to be Lucy's childhood _best friend_? Fate has got to be kidding with him.

"Hey man, now that you're here, why don't _you_ ask Lucy and Levy about what's going on?" Gray opened, changing the subject. Natsu looked at his friend, was this guy serious? "What?" Gray asked when he saw the look on Natsu's face.

"Why? What happened?" Sting asked, trying to get a peak of the two girls inside when Natsu grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"Well, this idiot here thinks he can get Lucy to talk about it with him but I'm sure that it's gonna go nowhere so I thought why don't you talk to Lucy about it and we'll see if we can do something, instead of just talking." Gray explained and Sting nodded, trying to grab a clear idea of the situation.

"Is this about their relationship?" Sting asked, turning to look at Natsu this time and he crossed his arms over his body.

"Yeah, it is. It seems that Lucy wants to go to the ball with me but when we talked about it yesterday, she seemed fine with it." Natsu answered, his head hung shamefully on his head. How could he not detect the sadness in her voice when she was so near to him?

"What? Did you really believe her?" Natsu looked up as Sting released a scoff, his mouth turned to a smug. "Tell me, who opened the subject? Was it her? Did she ask you about what you wanted?"

Natsu's face scrunched in confusion and in irritation. Who did this guy think he is? "Yeah, but she didn't really ask me what I _wanted_ , per se. She just asked me about my plans and so I told her about me planning to take Lisanna to the dance."

"WHAT?!" Sting shouted, making the two boys grab his mouth to shut him up. If the two girls inside heard them, their plans would have gone down the drain before it even started. "Dude, you're an idiot. Were you really together for what, a year now?"

"Two years," Natsu corrected Sting and he felt proud. He had Lucy for two years, while this blonde jerk had her for less than a month. How did he think he knew better? "We've been together for two years now, and I intend to keep us together."

"Woah, no need for glares." Sting laughed, resting his arms in the side of his body. "I love Lucy, and all, but I ain't here to disturb your relationship. I'm happy she got herself a guy because to be honest with ya, I was worried about her being all alone. But come on, you dated for two years now and you still don't get how she is?"

"I know a lot about her, more than you do." Natsu spat, getting a bit competitive when it came to Lucy.

"Uh, clearly not." Sting said with a smile, and boy, did Natsu not like that smile. "When she asks you first about what you want, it's clear that she wants to know because she might have other plans. And if your plans doesn't match hers, she'd easily drop it because she doesn't want to foil yours. Get it? She's that kind of person."

Natsu stared at Sting blankly for a few heartbeats before sighing and leaning against the wall for support. How could he not get it? How could he not see that Lucy wanted them to be out in the open just as much as he did? How could he just think that talking to her about it solved it all?

"Even so, I didn't think she'd want to go with me because she really values her reputation and I don't want to be the person who destroys one of the most valuable things to her." Natsu said, defeat evident on his voice.

"Here's what we're going to do." Gray said, getting tired of all the drama. "Sting's going to ask Lucy, and he'll get her to talk about it, about what she _really_ wants. And don't let her think about her reputation and all that bullshit. Get her to open up to you about what she wants. Got it?"

Sting nodded his head and remained silent, waiting for Gray to continue. "Then, when we have a clear idea of the things that she wants, we'll act on it. Specifically, this dumb flame-for-brains here, will do something to grant it. Now are we clear?"

Sting nods again and pushes Natsu out of the way, still bitter about the possibility that Natsu does not care for Lucy as much as he should. Natsu watched Sting enter the room and he sighed.

"I think today's Philosophy class is going to be one of the longest four hours in my entire life." Natsu muttered before entering the room, Gray following close behind him.

When they entered, the room was already filled with students and before he could look at Lucy, the teacher entered the room and class had started. Natsu zoned out the moment the teacher finished checking the attendance and wished for time to go faster so that he could leave the damned room and ask Sting whether he had found something good and do something to make Lucy happy.

Halfway through the class, Natsu heard Lucy and Levy's name get called out and he looked up to see Erza, the Student Council President by the door frame. He felt shivers run down his spine when she spared him a glance which to Natsu, seemed more like a glare. He immediately looked back down on his desk, trying his best not to think about the stuff he had to go through two years ago when he was still crushing on Lucy and all the different types of hell he had to experience to make Erza accept him.

Natsu groaned, thinking how ecstatic both of Lucy's parents were when Lucy introduced him to them and said that Erza finally approved of him. Just how much had Erza's opinion mattered? What could have happened when she didn't approve of him at all? Natsu shook his head, dreading the possibility of him and Lucy not being together.

Natsu turned to Gray who was sitting beside him at the furthest back of the room. "What was that all about? Did they do something wrong?"

Gray released a snort at Natsu's question before asnwering. "Those two? Puh-lease. It's just for the Winter Ball. Erza said something about needing the tickets and the theme to be done by today."

* * *

The class had ended with Lucy and Levy never being able to get back and so Natsu decided to hurry to the cafeteria to get even a glimpse of his favorite person but when he got there, the blonde was nowhere to be seen.

He sighed, thinking that they might have been too busy to drop by the cafeteria for lunch. "What's with the scowl, Natsu?" Natsu was in too much of a daze - a symptom that can be classified under _Lucy-deprivation_ , to know who had asked him.

"Nothin', just hoping that she at least eats her lunch." Natsu answered without even bothering to find out who had asked him the question in the first palce. "I don't want her to overwork herself, ya know?"

"Well, I'm here to eat my lunch so I don't think you need to worry about me." The voice answered with a giggle and Natsu whipped his attention to the person he was talking with, his heart pumping at the thought of Lucy talking to him at school.

"Oh, Lisanna. It's you." Natsu said, his excitement dropping from a hundred to zero in a span of a second.

"Of course it's me, silly." Lisanna said before dragging him along with her to their usual table.

Soon, Gray and the others had arrived and they ate in silence. Well, it was mostly Lisanna doing the talking, happiness evident in her voice as she thought of Natsu and the way he worried about her, however, unbeknownst to her, he was actually worrying about Lucy.

To Natsu, lunch was dragging because of the absence of his girlfriend and when the bell rung, he immediately disposed of his tray and left Lisanna with her girlfriends on the table.

He hurried all the way to the gym, Gray trailing behind him, eager to get the day done to see Lucy after class. When practice was done hours later, he ran to the parking lot and started his ignition to drive to the convenience store that they always meet at.

When he put the car to a stop, he sent Lucy a text.

 _ **To: Luce**_

 _ **hey, i'm waiting at the convenience store, i'll give you a ride home. sound good? love you x**_

Now normally, no matter how busy she is, she always left even a few seconds of her time to send him a reply. However, seconds had turned into minutes and into hours and a text was yet to arrive from Lucy. Natsu rolled the window down to get a proper view at the color of the sky only to see that the sun had started to set.

Natsu had bombarded Lucy's phone with about twenty texts over the span of an hour, tried calling her twice every fifteen minutes only to get sent to voicemail, and was now getting extremely worried about her. He tried calling Levy only to be treated the same way, voicemail.

Just as he was about to leave his car to find Lucy around the campus, his phone dinged. Natsu, glad to have finally heard his phone after being desperate for what seemed like an eternity, picked it up and turned it on.

 _ **From: Luce**_

 _ **I'm so sorry, I just had my phone back (courtesy of Erza). We're currently on a break and I don't think you should wait up. We've still got loads of things to do before we get to go back. Sorry. Love you xo**_

Natsu sighed and decided to just follow her because when they do this and say that they still have 'loads' of things to do, they really mean a _shit ton of things_. Feeling defeated, Natsu started the ignition and drove away, disappointed with how his day had turned out.


	10. Chapter 10: 忙しいすぎる (Too Busy)

**Wow! Early update?! Well, I _do_ have some extra time in my hands and I decided to use some of it to write! I hope you enjoy, and do leave a review! Thanks :) **

**Oh and wow! Chapter 10?! Unbelievable! Thanks for the support!**

 **Secret Love Chapter 10: 忙し すぎる (Too busy)**

 **Previously on SL:** _Natsu sighed and decided to just follow her because when they do this and say that they still have 'loads' of things to do, they really mean a shit ton of things. Feeling defeated, Natsu started the ignition and drove away, disappointed with how his day had turned out._

* * *

Ever since Lucy sent Natsu that text, they haven't had any decent time together. Sure, they had the occasional texts of how are you's here and there and calls of where are you now's but they never had the time to really get into talking.

Today, it was already Saturday and yet here she was, along with Erza, Levy, and Juvia, going through the final details about their tour that was happening next week and would run for five whole days .

"Hey, we've been at this for a week now and I haven't seen Jellal even once." Levy said, looking around the room as if the man was just going to magically pop out if she scanned hard enough.

"Yeah, don't you think it's unfair that we're working our asses off here while he's out there in, only God knows where?!" Lucy snapped, stress eating her patience and tact.

"Relax, he was asked to do handle the off-campus stuff. Now see all these things that we wrote down last Wednesday and how we need to buy all kinds of crap for the tour? Well, he's handling that." Erza answered, holding up the paper that was scribbled with all sorts of stuff.

"Oh, now I feel like such a jackass." Lucy muttered, looking over her shoulder to avoid Erza's eyes.

"You don't need to, it was my fault for not telling you." Erza answered, crossing her arms over her chest and sitting back. "Now, where were we?"

"We need to spread these papers around the campus and make sure that it reaches every student who will participate in this event by the end of Monday afternoon so as to avoid any problems." Juvia reminded, waving a flier in her hand and passing it to Lucy.

"Wow, is this the end product?" Lucy admired Juvia's work. "You're really good, Juv."

"Now we just need to print out multiple copies of this, enough for everyone, and we should be good to go, right?" Levy asked, looking over the information that was written on the flier to make sure that it covered everything and passed it to Erza. "Who's going to do it?"

"Jellal, of course." Erza replied, taking the flier in her hands and looking it over as well.

"What? Don't you think he already has too much in his plate?" Juvia asked, a frown etched in her face as she thought about all the work her fellow blue-haired friend needed to do.

"Yeah, Erza, I think we can do that by ourselves." Lucy said, trying to unload even a fraction off of their Vice President's shoulders.

"No, this is his job and he has to do it." Erza finalized before placing the flier inside a brown envelope and inside her bag. "I'll hand it over to him today and have him reprint copies. This should cover everything for the tour. Any other things we need to talk about?"

Lucy looked over her paper that contained everything that they needed to finalize and nodded. "Should be everything, can we go now?"

"Yeah, see you by Monday." Erza said before leaving. The three of them sighed and leaned back on their chairs, happy to finally be over with the planning but still to anxious about the tour.

"Well, I'm heading out first." Lucy sighed, grudgingly getting up and grabbed her purse. "I was thinking of getting enough sleep today before this tour starts because I don't know what kind of shit we're going to go through. Better to stack up on some sleep, don't you think?"

Lucy waved her hand behind her back and walked all the way to the bus stop. She sat down and whipped her phone out to see that she had multiple texts from Natsu.

 _ **From: Anon**_

 _ **good morning, where should we go today? it's your turn to plan today's date :) love you x**_

 _ **From: Anon**_

 _ **luce? are you still asleep, you doofus love you x**_

 _ **From: Anon**_

 _ **i think you're still asleep. i guess i should let you sleep. love you x**_

 _ **From: Anon**_

 _ **saw you on your way to school today. too busy for ol' natsu now are we? jk love you x**_

 _ **From: Anon**_

 _ **are you guys still at school? we could hang out after. love you x**_

 _ **From: Anon**_

 _ **i'm picking u up after school. tell me when you're done. love you x**_

 _ **Lucy sighed, not finding the energy to even send him a text back but she tried her best to do so. Why does he have to be so fucking sweet?**_

 _ **To: Anon**_

 _ **Don't. I'm tired. Sleep.**_

Lucy shoved her phone back in her purse after sending him the text and turning it to silent as the bus came to a stop in front of her. She wearily stood up and got inside the bus, opting to sit by the window so she could lean her head against it.

When she arrived home, she did the first thing she wanted to do, sleep. It felt like heaven as she finally dozed off with the thought of not having to wake up early tomorrow and snuggled against her pillows and burying her body under the heaven-like feel of her bed covers.

When she woke up, it was already dark out and she stood up, fishing her phone out of her purse and heading down the kitchen to get herself a glass of water she saw her mom chatting with Natsu by the kitchen island and when her mom noticed her come down, she gave her a smile before leaving them alone. "Spend some time with him, will you? He's been grumpy since he came here."

Lucy chuckled at her mother's words and grabbed a glass to fill it with water before turning to Natsu, "So, what are you doing here?"

Natsu frowned, his arms crossed over his chest. "What do you mean? I missed you, that's why. And besides, don't you need to apologize for something?"

Lucy sighed before downing the water and sitting down the couch, Natsu following close behind her. "You're right, I'm sorry I forgot about today's date. I've just been really busy."

"I still can't believe you forgot!" Natsu humphed, throwing his arms in the air in frustration. "I mean how can this stupid ball be more important than our relationship?"

"We're not just planning the ball, Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, her fuse still too short because of her exhaustion. "We're planning both the 'stupid' ball, which by the way, we've put so much thought into to make sure that everybody has a great time, as well as the tour that's supposed to happen next week!"

"I can't believe you're being so selfish right now!" Lucy sighed, weariness still clear from her voice. "You know what, can we not talk right now? I can't argue with you, not when I'm too tire-"

Lucy's eyes widened as Natsu's warm lips connected with hers. Natsu wrapped his arms around her waist and cradled her neck. Lucy pounded against his chest but decided to just go with it.

She fisted Natsu's shirt with her hand with the other crawled to his neck and grabbed fistfuls of his hair and pulled him closer to her. She needed this. She needed Natsu.

When they pulled away, their breathing was labored and Natsu was the first one to smile. "How can you still talk so much when you're tired?" He chuckled before pulling her to his arms to cuddle.

"How was the planning?" Natsu asked as he flipped the TV for anything good. "Can I ask when the ball's gonna be?"

Lucy nodded her head and caressed Natsu's hands that were wrapped around hers. She loved how their fights never lasted that long and how one way or another, they always found a way back to each other. "About a month after the tour, we think." She said, mindlessly tracing hearts in Natsu's calloused hands. "I mean, why drag it longer when we can just hold it sooner than later, right?"

Natsu chuckled, not really caring about when they will be having the ball. "When will you be free? I'm not having enough of you and your attention." He pouted, hardening his hold on Lucy.

"You never do." Lucy chuckled before turning around and facing Natsu to bury her face in his muffler. "I don't think I'll ever be free for the next few weeks because after this tour, we have to finalize everything for the Winter Formal."

Lucy heard Natsu groan as he tangled his hands in her golden locks. "Why did you have to run for that stupid council?"

"Hey, you're just as busy for the next few weeks, you know." Lucy laughed as she pulled away from him to look at his face. "You have a tournament against Saber Academy in three weeks right? I don't think the coach's gonna go easy on you just because you're pretty good."

" _Pretty_ good?" Natsu chuckled, admiring the way Lucy's golden hair cascaded down her back and how soft it felt his fingers and how its delicious smell engulfed his nostrils. "Luce, coach's considering me for the position of Captain. I think I'm beyond ' _pretty good_ '.

"Stop flattering yourself, you'll only get hurt." Lucy teased, knowing that she was hitting Natsu's focal points.

"Hey!" Natsu said before grinning menacingly as an idea popped into his mind and tackling Lucy into the couch. He rubbed his hands together before resting them on Lucy's waist and started tickling her.

"N-Na-!" Lucy heaved, having a hard time to contain her laughter and the tears that started to prick at the edges of her eyes. "N-Natsu! S-Stop!"

Their night continued like that and was filled with effortless laughter and mindless conversations. And Natsu ended up staying the night over, which was surprising seeing as how he was almost never really allowed to do that and when Lucy asked him about it by Monday, he said that he had told his parents that he needed to sleep over at Gray's for some project.

"And they believed you?" Lucy chuckled as she placed clothes inside her suitcase for their five-day trip that starts early tomorrow.

"Yeah, of course they did." Natsu grumbled before standing up and going over to Lucy's to place a kiss on her lips. "I should go. I have some packing to do as well. I can't believe I won't be able to talk to you as much as I'd want to for another week! This is getting so fucking annoying."

Lucy laughed as she zipped up her suitcase and placing it down her bed, ready to go. She approached Natsu who was now leaning against the door frame, ready - but not quite, to go. "Well, at least Lisanna's there to accompany you." She teased before wrapping her arms around his neck and placing a kiss on his neck.

She smiled in triumph as she heard him groan and place his hands on her waist rather roughly. "Still can't believe she's a Volleyball player, and a scholar at that." Natsu commented, his voice sounding husky.

"She _is_ Mira's sister, there's bound to be some genetics at play there." Lucy laughed before unwrapping her arms around his neck and stepping back, deciding to put some space between them before he decides to stay another 'five minutes' which to his vocabulary, lasts about an hour. "Anyway, see yourself out, doofus."

Natsu nodded and placed a kiss on her cheek before smiling and going down the stairs to leave. Lucy ran to the window that overlooks her neighborhood's street to bid him goodbye one last time for the night. When he got inside his Jeep, he rolled down his window and sent her a flying kiss. Now, it was Lucy's turn to pretend to catch it and clutch her heart, her face scrunched up.

"See you tomorrow!" Lucy mouthed, certain that he couldn't even see her from this distance. She waved her hand goodbye and he responded before turning the ignition and riding away.


	11. Chapter 11: 修学旅行 (School Trip)

**Hey, everyone! This was supposed to be uploaded by the end of last week but I didn't have any time to finish it. Anyway, school has started again! Ugh! I just wish to have enough time to continue writing this story since I plan on finishing this before the end of the year lol.**

 **Oh, and to MasterGildarts, thanks for the review again! I really appreciate your support :) I hope you enjoy this one as well. It might've been one of the longest chapters I've ever written. Enjoy everyone!**

 **Secret Love Chapter 11:** **修学旅行 (School Trip)**

 **Previously on SL:** _Natsu nodded and placed a kiss on her cheek before smiling and going down the stairs to leave. Lucy ran to the window that overlooks her neighborhood's street to bid him goodbye one last time for the night. When he got inside his Jeep, he rolled down his window and sent her a flying kiss. Now, it was Lucy's turn to pretend to catch it and clutch her heart, her face scrunched up._

 _"See you tomorrow!" Lucy mouthed, certain that he couldn't even see her from this distance. She waved her hand goodbye and he responded before turning the ignition and riding away._

* * *

Lucy fluttered her eyes open and rummaged around her bedside table to look for her phone that has been buzzing and going off for about a minute or two now to turn it off. When she turned to look at it, she only had about thirty minutes or so to get ready before she needs to leave.

She got up from her bed and whipped open her closet, not bothering to take a bath because _who the heck takes a bath at 3:30 in the morning?!_ With sleep still evident in her eyes and drunk-like movements, she grabbed the first thing she held and threw them on.

Lucy got herself scrunchies for her hair and decided to put it up in a bun, not being in the mood to deal with her bedhead. She then threw on a pair of black Nike 270s just to keep her look safe and hauled her suitcase all the way down.

"Looks like someone didn't have enough sleep." Lucy looked up to see her Dad, sipping a cup of coffee as if it was the most natural thing to do at 3 AM. Lucy rolled her eyes and left her suitcase by the end of the couch. "You look okay, by the way, considering how early it is."

Lucy mumbled an okay and threw open the door of the house only to be met with the intense morning air. She rubbed any remnants of sleep from her eyes and scanned her surroundings. The streetlights illuminated the dark neighborhood, fallen leaves scattered across the road, and the eerie silence was a new scenery to Lucy, given that she hated waking up at 8 for class, much less at 3 for some trip.

Lucy inhaled the crisp Autumn air, expecting a breath of fresh air only to be hit by the chill of the early Winter-like air. She reeled back and bent down, coughing and pounding her chest for comfort. She _did not_ expect that.

Just as she was about to go back inside to get a muffler, her dad wrapped one around her and she touched it, the material having a familiar feel to it.

"Natsu left it here last night." Her dad said before going out and opening the car trunk. He placed Lucy's suitcase there and opened the door for her, to which she gratefully got in and fastened her seat belt. Lucy grabbed the coffee that her dad had placed in the cup holder and sipped, loving the way the aroma and caffeine woke her up.

When they arrived at the school grounds, almost all of the students were already there and Lucy did a quick scan of her surroundings to look for Levy and saw her blue-haired friend by one of the two school buses, looking lost and out of place. Lucy laughed to herself, finally feeling better after having a strong dose of morning coffee, and placed the now empty cup of coffee in the cup holder.

Lucy unbuckled her seat belt and went out to follow her dad who was now getting her belongings out. She opened the passenger door of the car and grabbed her backpack that contained the important stuff she needs like her laptop, chargers, and phone. She unraveled Natsu's scarf around her neck and stuffed it inside to avoid any unnecessary attention because he was _the_ Natsu, and this was the scarf that he always had with him even before they met and was one of Igneel's gifts to him.

Lucy turned around and gave her dad a hug before grabbing the suitcase from his hands. As she was about to turn around, her father placed a hand at her shoulder. Lucy looked at him and raised her eyebrow, he looked as if he wanted to convince her to back out of this and she didn't want that.

"What is it, dad?" Lucy huffed before doing a full 360 to face her father properly. "I won't be backing out of this trip. I don't care if you're taking me to the bookstore for unlimited book shopping. I'm _going."_

Her father hung his head low. "It's not that, love." He said before looking up, a grin breaking up the lines on his forehead. "I sure do hope you and Natsu won't be doing anything scandalous while you're away somewhere exciting and far away."

Lucy could feel embarrassment creeping from her neck and painting her face cherry red. "Wha-?! Dad!" She let go of her suitcase to smack her Dad's hand off her shoulder before hitting some punches but he was already running and snickering away from her and to his car. He rolled down the windows and looked at her, his grin unwavering.

"See you in five days!" He shouted before turning the ignition on and driving away. Lucy sighed, and tightened the sling of her backpack before grabbing her suitcase and lugging it all the way to Levy's.

When she got nearer, she noticed that almost everybody was already there. Levy and Juvia were chatting it up while Cana and Mira were talking with some other girls on their level. Erza was shouting up orders for everybody to start lining up and get ready to board the bus.

"Good morning," Lucy greeted and gave everybody a hug. "Who are we sitting with? Oh, and is this our bus?"

"I'm sitting with Juvia because Erza wants to sit with you, and as always, Mira and Cana are sitting together." Levy, chuckling and hooking her arms with her blue-haired friend. "And yes, this is it. There's only two since only the academic scholars and student-athletes are coming with."

"Okay." Lucy nodded, smiling at everyone before approaching the scarlet-haired woman. "Are we sitting together?"

"Yes, it's been a while since we've talked. I think right now's the best time to catch up." Erza commented as she counted every person on the line. She shouted for Levy and the others to line up as well.

"I don't think so." Lucy laughed as she stood right by the very front of the line. "My solid and never-changing plan is to sleep the whole way."

"I see, then we should sleep together." Erza dead-panned and Lucy felt herself cringe. "That's another way of catching up, that's for sure."

"Yeah and I think that there's another way of saying that without sounding so indecent." Lucy siad, her face scrunched in disapproval of Erza's unwise choice of words.

Erza stared at her before taking her place by her side. "Stop sweating the small stuff." The scarlet-haired beauty said before looking at the back. "We'll now be boarding the bus! I expect you all the enter our mode of transportation calmly and orderly." Erza glared at everyone before grabbing her suitcase and Lucy's arm, being the first one to take a step inside the bus.

They both sat down at the last double seats by the end of the bus, right before the ones that could fit four to five people. When Lucy asked why they didn't sit right at the front, Erza said that it was easier to keep an eye on people when she's at the very back and Lucy, who couldn't care less about where they sat, just went along with her friend's decision with a nod and nothing else.

Now, when Erza decided to sit beside Lucy, the blonde thought that she needed to say goodbye to her sleeping plan but as soon as the bus started moving, the red-haired woman was out of commission. Lucy stared at her cousin with confusion, wondering what had happened recently that stressed Erza so much that she didn't drill her plan of chatting into Lucy's mind.

"Do you guys have any idea what has happened with her?" Lucy asked Levy and the others who were sitting by the back. "I mean, she's acting weird. She just told me a while ago that she wanted the catch up but now, she's sleeping. That's hella suspicious!"

"First of all, take it easy with the use of adverbs." Levy laughed, getting reminded by Natsu's constant use of them. "Second of all, no, I don't think I know what's going on."

Lucy scrunched her face, realizing that Natsu's annoying use of informal words were rubbing off on her and hating the fact that Levy was the one who noticed that, and not her. She looked back at Erza and saw that her head was bobbing from one side to another. Sighing, she grabbed her cousin's head and rested it on her shoulder to prevent it from falling from her neck and to avoid the situation in her head where everybody was freaking out because the Student Council President just got decapitated and ended up dead because of sleeping in a school bus.

"I know," Their heads turned to look at Mira who was munching on a cookie that she probably baked herself. "I saw her walking around town yesterday."

"And how does that stress her? Isn't walking around town supposed to ease some stress off of your body?" Juvia asked, looking up from her phone.

"Yeah, I wasn't done, Juvia." Mira said, rolling her eyes and pointing to Juvia before scoffing. "She wasn't alone. Erza was walking around with Jellal and they were _hand in hand."_ Mira finished, saying the last three words slowly for emphasis.

"Jellal?" Lucy repeated, looking over the red-head who was sleeping with a small smile etched on her face. "I'm happy for you, Erza." She said, before leaning against Erza's head and dozing off as well, sleeplessness slowly getting the best of her.

* * *

After five hours of non-stop bus ride, everybody's legs were way beyond cramped and Lucy was starting to feel nauseous from the sudden stops and unsteady ride. When they were at a particularly bad road, Lucy couldn't take it in anymore and she decided to open the window for a breath of fresh air and when she did, Natsu's face popped in her mind.

How was he? Was he going to live through this nightmare? Lucy sighed and shuddered at the thought of Natsu losing face because of his car sickness. He was fine with riding inside his own car no matter how long they rode as long as he was driving but if it was any other car, he would immediately get nauseous after being inside a vehicle that was not his for about thirty minutes tops.

The bus slowed to a stop and Lucy lifted her head from Erza's to see that they were not at Crocus. She looked at the building in front of them and read the huge sign that decorated the hotel that read; _Lamia Scale Hotel and Recreations._

She released a withheld sigh and turned to wake Erza only to see that the red-head was already up and about, barking orders at everyone to hurry it up so that they could get off the 'hell bus', as she had worded it and in minutes, they were already well on their way to the hotel.

As they were entering the hotel, a black Jeep Wrangler pulled to a stop and parked beside the school bus and a pink-head and raven-haired man stepped down, and Lucy noticed that their sunglasses was only propped out only for fashion statements and not at all for convenience because the sun has just popped out.

The two men nodded at each other, seemingly full of it, according to Lucy, before opening the back seat door and pulling their luggage out. "Huh, I should've figured that he would take his car." Lucy muttered before turning around and half-jogging to catch up with the others.

When they got to their hotel room, Lucy immediately ran inside and claimed five-day ownership on the bed by the window. When everybody had settled down, Lucy sat down on her bed and took in the room.

There were six beds in total - one for each of them, that faced one another while a wide gap was in between so that people could pass through easily. The window overlooks the pool that was wide enough for a whole packed class to swim in and not bump into each other, the bath room had an adequate-sized bath door that comes with a curtain so that even when someone was taking a bath, you could still get inside and pee or wash your face. There was a shower, but there was no bath tub which was probably a great choice seeing as all of them were fans of baths and would definitely take at least an hour before they finished.

There was a small chest by the end of each beds that acts as a storage for their belongings and Lucy started unpacking as soon as she saw it. There was a small vanity mirror and desk by the side of the window that could easily let two people use it at the same time. Modern, white and beige, bland, decorations surrounded the whole room and Lucy admiring the way the hotel embraced minimalism but she had to admit, the room could use a splash of color.

"Erza, what are we doing next?" Cana asked while she zipped her suitcase open and started unloading its contents in the chest by the end of her bed. Lucy closed hers and placed it by the window so that it would bother no one.

"Nothing," The red-head replied before plopping down on her bed. "We're ordered to rest up until 3 PM. By 3:30, we're all expected to be at the Lobby for attendance and that will be when they'll be handing out the time table."

Lucy sighed, thankful for the rest time. She kicked off her shoes and spread across her bed, deciding to sleep until 3.

* * *

Lucy woke up to the sound of Erza shouting for them to 'get off their asses'. She pulled herself up and looked around to see that everybody decided to sleep and were currently still spread across their own beds. "Erza, stop yelling. You're making my head throb." Lucy muttered before rubbing her eyes.

"Lucy!" Erza sighed, "Thank God, you're awake. We have to go, they're going to start taking our attendance in five minutes."

Lucy's eyes widened at this and she threw her legs off her bed and fumbled with her shoes before securely putting them on. "Leave them, there's no saving these buffoons."

Erza's eyebrows knitted in confusion before she shook her head. "No! We're not leaving them here! I'm hauling their asses out if I need to." The red-head started approaching their beds one by one before all of them sprung up at the same time, yelling incomprehensible words before putting their shoes on and barging out of the room. "What was that all about?"

Lucy chuckled before urging Erza out as well, "Looks like they were awake the whole time."

They boarded the elevator from the 54th floor all the way down to the lobby. When the doors opened, Lucy realized how exclusive this trip actually was. There was only about fifty or less people here. "What's happening? I thought they were including every scholar?"

"What? No," Mira said, finding Lucy's words a bit absurd. No matter how elite the word scholar sounded, it was not at all that hard to find one at Fairy Tail High. In fact, half of the school's students were scholars, either academically or due to their athleticism. "They only chose a handful of students to participate."

Lucy looked around for Natsu to see that he was sitting in one of the couches on the lobby and was tapping away at his phone. Moments later, Miss Aquarius emerged from one of the elevators and started taking everybody's attendance and handing out the timetable.

Lucy looked at it and read that their next activity was in four hours, and that it was just dinner. She looked at next day's schedule and smiled, looking forward to the activities that the community and the school has planned for them. They were all advised to go back to their rooms and tidy up or roam around the hotel and relax. Nobody was allowed to go out of the hotel and so Lucy and the others decided to go back to their rooms to hang out.

While Lucy was reading a book that she had brought with her, her phone vibrated by her side and she picked it up to see that Natsu was calling her. She smiled before answering, "Hey,".

"Hey," Natsu's voice emerged from her phone's speaker. "How's the hotel so far?"

"Good, good. I share a room with Juvia and the others. It's really fun just to hang out with each other." Lucy giggled, ignoring the looks her friends were throwing her way. "It doesn't even feel like I'm on a school administered trip at all."

"Huh, it's nice to hear that somebody's having fun." Natsu grumbled, a small laugh escaping his lips. "I have the room with Gray."

"And?" Lucy asked but she was met with silence. "You have the room with Gray and? Why does it seem like you're not liking your room situation?"

"How could I when I share the room with Gray, Gajeel, Jellal, Lyon, _and_ Sting." Lucy heard Natsu grunt and she couldn't help but laugh. She was sharing the room with her closest friends and was actually loving it while he was just having the worst days of his life.

"Just be thankful you've got a room and your own bed, Natsu." Lucy laughed, twirling a strand of hair in her fingers. "Hey, you brought your Jeep. I'm surprised they let you drive all the way here. It's a five hour drive. Were you okay?"

Natsu was silent for a few seconds and Lucy figured that he forgot that they were on call and was nodding his head. "Yeah, I asked Dad to pull some strings and get the school to let me drive. Gray and I switched from time to time, just so I don't feel like I'm his personal driver."

"Don't lie to me, Dragneel." Lucy laughed. "I know you presented the school with a medical certificate signed by your Dad who actually checked you up and followed protocol. Don't even try sounding cool in front of me, it hadn't worked in years, don't think it'll work now."

Natsu chuckled, "Yeah, and I'm not surprised you know that. Anyway, got to go. I want to catch a couple of minutes of sleep before these imbeciles wake up and drag me around the hotel to explore."

"Oh, imbeciles? I see that you're finally learning, babe. It's sexy." Lucy purred before mouthing a 'what' at Levy who had heard and was now looking at her with a weird face. "Anyway, me too. I want to sleep until tomorrow but I know I need to go down for dinner later and I'm sure Erza won't want to be late for that so I might as well take this opportunity now."

"I am, I'm proud to say that your smartiness is rubbing off on me." Natsu replied while Lucy cringed, doing her best to not point Natsu's stupidity out while pride was oozing from his voice. "Well, see you later. Love you, bye!"

Lucy sighed before removing the phone from her ear and placed it at the bedside table that she shared with Erza. She slipped down on her bed and snuggled against the comfortable white comforters while her head dipped down the feather-filled pillows.

By the time dinner time had come, Lucy had finally gotten enough rest and energy to properly interact with people. They came down the dining hall and scanned the place for an empty table that could accommodate all of them. They saw one that was beside Lisanna's group and Erza placed a hand on her shoulder, silently telling her that they had no other choice on the matter.

It was either that table near Lisanna's or they would have to split up and sit in different tables with different people.

Lucy decided to lounge for a few minutes, waiting for the crowd to disperse around the buffet area. "You should really go now." She looked up to see Natsu - who was looking at her with the prettiest smile, and Gray passing her before joining Lisanna and the others.

She scoffed before turning her attention back to her phone. She had opened Tumblr up and was scrolling through some art and re-blogging some from time to time when she found something she wanted to keep. "Lucy, we should go now before the food's all gone." Erza's stern voice said and Lucy sighed before nodding. Does nobody here understand how buffets work?

"You do know that they refill the food once it's all gone, right?" Lucy asked Erza as she followed her older cousin towards the tables that displayed the food. "That _is_ how buffets work, Erza, so I don't think you should worry about it running out."

"What?!" Erza exclaimed as she abruptly stopped walking. "Then they're going to lose a ton of money!"

"No, because they only serve it until a certain time." Lucy explained, continuing to walk while Erza slowed her pace to match the blonde's. "For an instance, see that poster right there?" Lucy pointed to a yellow bond-paper sized poster that had scribbles written on it. "We passed a couple of those a few minutes ago and I've read that they only serve dinner from 6 PM until 9 PM, which gives guests three hours to enjoy the buffet before they take all the food away."

"I see, that's convenient." Erza said before grabbing two plates and handing one to Lucy. They both stood in line for the food, eyeing ones that they liked and putting some on their plates. "I've never really gone to buffets. Have you?"

"Yeah, our parents were never fond of buffets." Lucy laughed as she placed some white pasta on her plate. "They just kept on saying how the food must be sloppy because it's all done in rush. But yes, I've been to a buffet house. Natsu took me to one."

"Oh, I can see him enjoying these kind of dining set-ups." Erza chuckled, her plate now full and she looked at Lucy before leaving the line to head back to their table. "How was it? Was it in Magnolia?"

"No, it was somewhere in Crocus, and the owner banned him for life from there." Lucy giggled at the memory of Natsu being asked to pay the amount of three people for all the food he had eaten. It was unfair, but Lucy didn't want the restaurant to go down just because of Natsu's abnormally large appetite.

Lucy eyed the table beside them where Natsu and the others were sitting and eating- well _devouring_ would be the proper term to use in Natsu's case, all of Natsu's room mates were their. All except one, Sting. Lucy's eyes furrowed, where could he be? Was he eating alone somewhere?

"Have any of you seen Sting?" Lucy asked the others as soon as they got seated. "He isn't eating with Natsu and the others and he shares the room with them. I'm quite worried if he's alone somewhere."

Levy opened her mouth to answer when someone beat her to it, "Luce! You've got to try their strawberry-vanilla milkshake! It's simply heaven!" All of their heads turned to the sudden outburst that easily overpowered anyone else's to stare at Sting who had a tray in hand filled with food and a milkshake.

"Where have you been?" Lucy asked, pausing the stare at Sting's milkshake. "Hey, is that a strawberry-vanilla? Can I have a sip?"

Sting laughed at Lucy's easily distracted nature and asked Cana to move so that he could sit beside Lucy. "Here you go, it's meant to be yours anyway." He said as he handed Lucy the milkshake. He nodded at Mira who was smirking and moved his attention to his food.

"Really?!" Lucy exclaimed, her voice so loud it could be heard by the occupants of the table next to them. "Oh, thanks Sting! I can't believe you remembered! Where did you get this from?"

"It's a small gesture, Luce." Sting said, not taking his eye away from his food. "You could ask the bartender by the bar to make you one. This _is_ a hotel, after all."

"Oh?" Everybody turned their heads to Mira who had spoken up. "The bar, huh? Don't tell me you slipped drugs there, Eucliffe?"

"What?" Lucy laughed, after sipping from her drink and continuing to eat her dinner. "That's preposterous, Mira, Sting would never do that to anyone, let alone to me."

Lucy was too preoccupied with her newfound obsession to notice that Natsu had left his table a few minutes ago and was now back with a purple drink in hand. He handed the drink to Lisanna with a grumble, "Here ya go, a blueberry milkshake."

"I can't believe you're competing with Sting, flame brain." Gray said as he munched on a cupcake, his entree long finished. "Can't have Lisanna falling for another man, huh? I get it, I _totally_ get it. Winter Formal _is_ coming, after all." He added, his voice a bit too loud for Lucy's liking.

Was Natsu trying to make her jealous? Lucy shook her head, that can't be true. Natsu wasn't that petty and besides, there was no reason for her to be hung up over the Winter Formal. They've already talked about it and they came to the agreement that they were going with other people. Natsu was taking Lisanna, and she was going with some dude. So what? They were going to have a wonderful night together after the dance.

"Should we head back now?" Lucy's train of thought was interrupted by Levy's voice. She looked at her milkshake cup which she just realized, was already empty. She let go of the straw and saw that it had chew marks all over it.

Lucy nodded her head and pushed the now empty cup away, stood up, and followed the others. "Aren't you going?" Lucy asked Sting who was still sitting down, eating some desert that he had found.

"Nah, not yet." Sting replied before standing up, his desert on hand. "They've got the keys to the room and I figured I should buy some things that I forgot so I'm heading to the nearest convenience store. Wanna come?"

Lucy shook her head no, "I want to finish unpacking and we've got an early start tomorrow so I better tuck in early." Sting nodded his head at Lucy and wrapped his arm around her shoulder to give it a hard squeeze. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Yes, I'll see you." Sting said before unlatching the keys that have been on his belt.

"You drove here?" Lucy asked, eyeing the Nissan keys on her friend's hand.

"Yeah, I brought my Juke with me." Sting said and glanced at the hotel door. "Car sick, remember?"

Lucy's mouth turned into an 'O' shape and she nodded, suddenly remembering the similarity that Natsu shared with Sting. Lucy smiled at Sting and waved him goodbye as he headed for the hotel doors. "Be careful!" She shouted before he got out and she ran to catch up with Erza and the others who were waiting for the elevator to descend.

When they got to their hotel room, everybody decided to either finish unpacking or get ready for the night. No noises were heard apart from the sound of running water from Juvia's bath and the rummaging of suitcases by Erza's side. The steady static and electric noise that the television emitted surrounded the room while Lucy sorted out her clothes for tomorrow.

"What was up with Natsu today?" Levy was the first one to open the topic Lucy had been dreading. "That was incredibly uncharacteristic of him."

"What is, to be kind enough to give Lisanna some shake? Or was it his huge appetite?" Erza asked, emerging from her pile of clothes. "Natsu had always been so kind, though I must admit, I never really liked him at first glance."

Lucy laughed at the memory of Erza throwing Natsu the most dangerous glares that the red-head could throw and Lucy had to admit, if she were on the receiving end, she would have given up on ever gaining Erza's approval.

"No, Erza." Cana said, tearing her eyes away from the show that she had been watching for the past thirty minutes. "What Levy meant was how he gave Lisanna that milkshake and yet when we're at school, he barely looks at her, let alone talk."

"I'm sure Natsu was only being understanding to Lisanna's current situation." Juvia said, a towel wrapped around her body. Since when had she been listening? "Lisanna doesn't have any of her usual friends with her at the moment seeing as the two who were scholars weren't chosen for the trip while the other two weren't even scholars in the first place."

Lucy nodded, now that she thinks about it, Juvia might be right. While Natsu was never really fond of Lisanna, he _did_ have a heart that would never let alone feel alone and that made Lucy love him more. "I guess," Levy sighed, feeling as if nobody really got the right answer and yet since no one else wanted to say anything, she decided to ask the one person who knew the man in question the most. "What do you think, Lu?"

Lucy's eyes widened, not expecting for the question to be directed to her in an instant. "Oh, uh, that was nothing new." Lucy smiled, climbing on her bed and wrapping the covers around herself. "He had always been so considerate of Lisanna, and they _did_ grow up with one another."

Mira looked at Lucy and smirked, before wrapping her own covers around herself. "Those two were quite close, growing up." The older Strauss sibling said, recalling the fond memories of young Lisanna and Natsu running around the garden. "Well, let's just drop it and go to sleep. We have an early and busy day ahead of us tomorrow."

A series of nods and 'yes's resounded inside the room before the lights were turned off and only the small light that the lampshade emitted surrounded the room.


	12. Chapter 12: 写真 (Photos)

**Hey, everybody! Sorry for the late update, I didn't have any time to write at all for last week. But, I've started writing the next chapter already and I will try my best to post it before the next weekend, preferably by Tuesday or Wednesday! Anyway, I wish you all enjoy this chapter! Thanks for the continuous support, especially to MasterGildarts who seems to have become a constant reviewer! Love lots, ace x**

 **Secret Love Chapter 13:** **写真 (Photos)**

 **Previously on SL:** _Mira looked at Lucy and smirked, before wrapping her own covers around herself. "Those two were quite close, growing up." The older Strauss sibling said, recalling the fond memories of young Lisanna and Natsu running around the garden. "Well, let's just drop it and go to sleep. We have an early and busy day ahead of us tomorrow."_

 _A series of nods and 'yes's resounded inside the room before the lights were turned off and only the small light that the lampshade emitted surrounded the room._

* * *

Natsu woke up to the sound of water pouring from the bathroom, and the constant padding of feet against the wooden floor of their hotel room. He opened his eyes to a half-naked Jellal walking back and forth the hotel and Gajeel munching on something that Natsu could never even begin to guess the nature of what it was because every time his teeth made contact with the object, it clanked.

"Finally, you're awake!" Natsu turned his head to his raven-haired friend, Gray who was drying his hair with a hotel-issued hand towel. "You have to start getting ready, we're leaving in an hour. We ain't waiting up for you, ash-for-brains."

Natsu groaned, not in the mood to retort and instead, proceeded to grab his towel from the trunk by the end of his bed and the small bag that had his shampoo and whatnot, Lucy insisted he brought one.

Natsu pounded his fist against the white wooden door that divided the bathroom from the living area to ask permission from the person inside if it was safe to go in, he didn't want anyone ruining his day by flashing him any of their ugly stuff.

"Safe, dude!" A voice that was somewhat familiar to Natsu sounded from the room.

Natsu opened the door and saw that the shower area's door was closed with the curtain pulled to cover whoever was taking a shower. Natsu placed his small bag on the sink and took out his toothbrush to brush his teeth while he waited for the shower room to be available.

Minutes later, Sting emerged from the shower room with only a towel on and nodded at Natsu, signaling that he was next. Natsu rolled his eyes and shoved Sting and immediately went inside the shower to get ready. He only had a few minutes now.

When he finally finished and went out of the bathroom, everybody was nearly finished except for Jellal who was still pacing back and forth. Natsu sighed and decided to ignore their Student Council Vice President for now and start changing.

"What were we doing again today?" Natsu asked no one in particular as he rummaged her trunk for anything that he could wear.

"Seminar." Loke answered as he styled his hair with a comb. Even now, Natsu could not believe that the man was a student-athlete because all this time, since he saw his ugly face in the debate club, he was sure that Loke was one of the academic scholars. Turns out, he wasn't.

Natsu looked out the window to see that Autumn was finally showing itself. He felt a smile tug on the edges of his mouth as he remembered Lucy's genuine smile whenever Autumn was finally coming. She did enjoy the way the leaves fell and how her eyes lit up as the surroundings changed color from a summery vibe to a splash of red and orange. His girlfriend really loved color.

Natsu nodded and grabbed the black turtleneck that he had brought with him and a long brown overcoat, some pants and the black Nike 270s that he had bought with Lucy the last time they went shopping.

"Is everybody ready?" Gajeel asked everybody as he licked his hand free from any residue of the meal that he had just devoured. There was a unison of 'yes's and nods that resonated within the hotel room.

Natsu grabbed his wallet and proceeded to pull the hotel key from the table that Gajeel was sitting on. He opened the door and was about to go out when Jellal's shout stopped everybody's movements.

"Wait!"Jellal said as he held his hand to stop everybody from leaving the room. "I've lost our room key!"

"I have it, man." Natsu said, dangling the little key with the hotel room number in his hand to show Jellal. "You left it at the table. Gajeel was sitting on it."

"Oh,"

"So, are we ready now?" Natsu asked as he glared at everyone and motioned for them to get a move on before they got late. He didn't want an early earful from Miss Aquarius, after all.

Everybody nodded their heads and followed Natsu out. When they reached the hotel lobby, everybody had already gathered. Natsu unconsciously scanned the lobby for blonde hair and saw her sitting beside Levy as they talked, interest flickering in their eyes as they discussed whatever bookworms talk with each other about.

"Good morning, everyone." Everybody turned their head to see the school's counselor; Mr. Capricorn. "I hope you all had a great first night's sleep, because you are all going to be very busy today, especially the academic scholars."

"It is already written on your timetables so I don't think I should explain anymore but it would be better if I did, just in case anybody received the wrong timetable." Mr Capricorn continued, adjusting the tie of his crisp black suit as he spoke. "The academic scholars will be helping out with a community outreach led by the local orphanage while the student-athletes will be attending a very informative seminar about the importance of teamwork."

"Now, the academic scholars will be led by Miss Aquarius so make sure to go with your best behavior. I wish you bond with the kids and have a great community outreach." Mr Capricorn said as he nodded to Lucy's group and turned to Aquarius, giving her a pat on her back before turning to Natsu's group. "Mr Scorpio will be keeping an eye on you guys. I hope you learn a great deal from this seminar. Have fun."

Before Natsu knew it, they were beckoned to a room full of student-athletes and were being asked to sit down before the seminar started. The room was a dull white and grey and Natsu couldn't help but think how Lucy would hate this place. The chairs were covered by a white cloth while the walls were painted with a light shade of beige. Their was a whiteboard by the very front of the room and the only splash of color in the room was a boring brown wooden podium and a black microphone stand.

Natsu sat beside Gray and the others by the very back of the room. By this time, Sting and Jellal had already left them to join the academic scholars.

As Natsu sat down and played on his phone, loud chatter had filled the dull room. There was the occasional loud huffs and laughs as somebody had too much fun but Natsu didn't complain, anything to relieve the dullness of the room was welcome.

The chatter died down as somebody approached the podium. "Good morning, aspiring athletes. I am Jura Neekis, a member of the Fiore League of Athletes or FLA. I once played for my city's national team; Margaret Mermen."

There was a sudden burst of claps and ooh's from the crowd but Natsu couldn't care at the time as _the_ Jura Neekis stood before him because his phone just dinged and Mira had sent him a picture of Lucy as she gazed outside, her eyes seemingly far away and distant, but her smile was warm and comforting. Lucy rested her head against her hand as the colors of Autumn reflected the glass and graced her features.

Natsu hurriedly clicked save and told Mira to keep the photos coming. He could care less about some seminar about the importance of team work. He's been to loads and they only say and mean one thing; that team work was _important_.

Not long after sending Mira a reply, his phone dinged again and somebody in the crowd coughed, probably judging the owner of the phone for using their device at the presence of a sports legend but instead of bursting like he usually does, Natsu decided to just set his phone on vibrate instead.

He opened Mira's message and saw that Lucy was sitting beside Erza. She was happily smiling, both of her hands raised to a 'peace sign'. She had her head resting on Erza's shoulder as her cousin wrapped her arms around the blonde, a warm smile graced her features. Natsu couldn't help but feel relieved at the thought of Sting not going anywhere near Lucy because despite what he showed Lucy, he was a pretty jealous guy. He was just better at hiding it than most.

Natsu decided to forward the picture to Jellal, as he had taken a small liking towards the council man because of how relaxed he actually was, in total contrast to their school's council president. Minutes later, he had received a reply from Jellal saying how he could actually see his girlfriend in person, unlike a certain pink-haired man.

Natsu rolled his eyes and sent a face emoji with hearts as eyes as a reply to Mira. Seconds turned to minutes and Natsu deduced that they might have started their community outreach now and so, he decided to put his phone down for once and listen to Jura blabber on and on about teamwork.

"Have any of you ever heard of a 'one-man team'?" Jura asked, scanning the crowd for any kind of response. Almost instantly, more than half of the people inside the room raised their hands, Natsu included. Jura nodded his head and proceeded, "When one player in a team plays better than everybody else, the team has a high possibility of being called a "One-Man Team" because that person is the only one giving the team a greater chance at winning."

"Now, this does not mean, in any way, that when there's somebody better than everyone else in the team, the other members are now rendered useless." Jura pointed out. "This is a wake up call for everybody to better hone their talents and instead of being jealous over that person, it would do you all better if you help each other out."

Natsu sighed, thinking about how he had heard that phrase time and time again. They didn't have to travel this far to get this kind of weak-ass shit pep talk, they could've just gotten this from their gym teacher. Heck, even Natsu could do it. Natsu pulled his phone from his pocket as he heard it vibrate. Grinning, he was excited for the picture that Mira had sent him of Lucy.

Opening the message, Natsu realized how much he owed Mira now. She was practically his saviour at this point. Mira had sent three pictures of Lucy.

The first one was of Lucy spoon-feeding a boy that looked around the age of 8 or 9. Natsu grumbled, thinking that even though it was weird, he thought how much he longed to be in that kid's situation right now.

The second one was of Lucy and Juvia, setting some food on a white plastic table. Her hair has pulled to a ponytail and Natsu's eyes couldn't stop gaping at her neck and how it glinted from the Autumn sun. Lucy was handing Juvia a plastic container that had food inside and Juvia had a small grateful smile on her face and Natsu took one look at Gray who was on the brink of sleeping and forwarded the picture to his almost dead friend.

The third one was Natsu's personal favorite out of the three pictures. Lucy had her head propped on one of her hands in support and her face the most beautiful smile. Her eyes were glinting with warmth as she lovingly looked at Levy who seemed to be so absorbed with whatever she was talking about. The smile engraved on her face was one of Natsu's personal favorites because it told him she was comfortable and happy, it assured him that she felt safe, and it showed him that she was okay, and an Okay-Lucy was a very kind Lucy.

Natsu looked up from his phone when a gruff voice echoed across the room. Gajeel was holding one microphone and was asking Jura some question and Natsu had a great idea. Pulling his phone out again, he looked for the last photo Mira had sent him and clicked it. Seconds later, Gajeel's phone echoed across the now silent room as it dinged, the man muttered a small curse and sat down.

Natsu couldn't help but snicker at Gajeel who whipped his face to look at him with a confused look before looking up front again and typing.

 _ **From: Iron Face**_

 _ **What the fuck?**_

Natsu rolled his eyes at his cousin with a small evil grin decorating his face before sending a reply.

 _ **To: Iron Face**_

 _ **i know u've been eyeing her.**_

Almost instantly, Natsu received a reply.

 _ **From: Iron Face**_

 _ **Who, your girlfriend?**_

Natsu let out a loud sputter before he excused himself and rubbed his chest, surprised at Gajeel's reply. He could feel the man's smirk at his reaction before deciding to take revenge.

 _ **To: Iron Face**_

 _ **dont play dumb on me, i know u like levy so stop being such a wuss and ask her out already. fuck face.**_

As Natsu sent the message, a loud cough was heard all the way from the front and Natsu couldn't hold back the victorious grin from spreading on his face.

Before they all knew it, lunch had rolled on and it had been about an hour since Mira sent Natsu a picture of Lucy. Natsu was getting a bit antsy at the lack of Lucy pictures on his life because the pictures were the only thing that linked him to reality and he was slowly slipping away by the minute.

As Natsu sat between Gray and Gajeel, he ate his lunch in silence as the people on his table talked about the lecture they just had and how remarkable Jura Neekis was back in the day. Natsu kept stabbing his fruit mercilessly as he had finished his main meal and was now scrolling through his phone, waiting for it to ding.

When it did, Natsu's posture immediately straightened up. Feeling giddy, he opened Mira's text only to slump back.

Mira had sent him a picture of Lucy on the side of a busy road, a car driving behind her. Lucy's face was scrunched up, a clear sign of fear and nervousness from the blonde. This was enough to unnerve the salmon-haired man but what really ticked him off was Sting's presence in the picture. To make it worse, he had his arms wrapped around Lucy, one of his hands holding her head protectively as his eyes bore into Lucy's figure, concern seeping from it. Lucy's arms were pressed rather roughly against the blonde man's chest as she clung onto his clothes for dear life.

 _What the fuck?_ Natsu thought, as he gripped his phone until the blonde retreated from his fingers, turning them white. Natsu looked up at Lisanna, her smile irritating him for some reason. He then snapped his eyes to Gray who was sitting beside the white haired lady, hating the way he chewed his food.

He tapped Gray's shoulders roughly before signaling the man to switch places with him. "Lisanna," He said, catching the said girl's attention.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering, would you want to go to the ball with me? I know it's a bit early, but-" Natsu couldn't finish his sentence as Lisanna's arms flung itself around him.

"Oh, yes! Yes!" Lisanna exclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention. "A hundred, no, a million times yes!"

"Great." Natsu muttered, forcing a small smile to tug his mouth.


	13. Chapter 13: 実現 (Realization)

**An early chapter, as promised! I hope everybody enjoys this as much as I enjoyed writing it, because this is by far, my favorite chapter! I'm so thankful to MasterGildarts for reviewing every single chapter that I publish and for letting me know that my intentions are being understood by hopefully everyone. I'm really happy that I am able to write and express to every single one of you and that I am actually capable of letting my intentions for Lucy and Natsu's feeling show. Thank you all!**

 **Secret Love Chapter 13:** **実現 (Realization)**

 **Previously on SL:** _"Oh, yes! Yes!" Lisanna exclaimed, grabbing everyone's attention. "A hundred, no, a million times yes!"_

 _"Great." Natsu muttered, forcing a small smile to tug his mouth._

* * *

Lucy was on her way to Margaret Hall where a convention was being held for the academic scholars. Tons of universities, both local and national were invited to advertise their school and gather students for the next year, it was also an opportunity for students like Lucy who lived too far from her dream school to have the chance to know about the school's requirements.

The convention featured schools that offered different courses so as to accommodate the various interests of the students and to help them finally settle on a university for college. As she was walking alone, Levy and the others had already gone ahead because they were yet to decide on their universities and wanted to get to the hall earlier than most so that they would have enough time to visit every single stall, Lucy heard giggles and childish shouts come from the playground.

With a smile, she turned her attention to the source of the sound, wanting to admire the way kids enjoyed their youth before they are degraded by society and stained by the hideous sights of the real world. There were teenagers around Lucy's age playing with the kids in the playground and soon, she realized that they were from her school. They must be the student-athletes who were doing their community outreach.

Lucy scanned the crowd of children and teenagers to find a familiar salmon-haired man, crouching down to pick up a kid and throw her high in the air, the kid laughing and flailing her arms in response to the sudden rush of air that hit her body, feeling omnipotent over the power of gravity. She laughed and wondered how great of a dad Natsu would be, but shivered at the thought of their kid having Natsu's rambunctious personality.

Lucy decided to keep walking, ignoring the urge to run over to him and play with the kids but stopped dead on her tracks when Lisanna approached Natsu and placed a hand on his shoulders. Now Lucy wasn't a jealous type of girl. A hand on the shoulder was never enough to get to her nerves, but what the white-haired girl did next certainly pushed her buttons.

Lisanna rubbed her hand up and down Natsu's arm while Natsu smiled as he nodded and talked to the kid that he had just sent flying, completely oblivious to her actions. Lisanna then placed her free arm around the kid's head and ruffled her hair. It was repulsing. Lucy shuddered at the image playing before her. They looked like a family of three!

Natsu looked at Lisanna, a leftover grin from looking at the kid still etched on his face. He placed the kid down and the two of them crouched down when the kid motioned for them too. Lucy was near enough to comprehensibly hear what the kid said and so she decided to listen intently.

"You're so lucky, miss!" The little girl had exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air for emphasis. "I also want a boyfriend like Nashu when I get old!"

Lisanna gasped and retreated before crouching down again and smiling at the kid, her hand still caressing Natsu's arm while her other hand was placed lovingly on the little girl's cheek. "Oh, no, we're not together, little one."

Lucy's eyes traveled to Natsu to see him looking directly at her, a wide grin decorating his face and a small blush tinting his cheeks. Lucy saw Natsu's hand slowly rise in the air - probably in an attempt to gain his girlfriend's attention, but what Lisanna said next made his arm fall limply against his side and his eyes to widen.

"But we're getting there." Natsu turned his attention to the white-haired girl beside him, swatting her hand on his arm with a baffled look on his face. Then he looked at Lucy and shook his head at her.

Before Natsu could say or even do anything, Lucy was already speeding away from the painful scene.

* * *

"Lu!" Lucy looked at the direction of the person who had just called her name to see Levy, dozens of brochures on her hand and piles of application forms stuffed in her transparent envelope.

"You look like you just got back from paper shopping." Lucy giggled as she grabbed a few of Levy's brochures and began to read them. This was not the time to be hung up over Natsu, and certainly not the moment to be thinking over Lisanna's hurtful words.

"You think _I_ went a bit too far? Wait till you see Erza."

True to her words, Lucy's red-haired cousin was way beyond overboard. In fact, saying that the woman had gone overboard was now an understatement.

"Erza!" Lucy exclaimed as her mouth dropped at the sight of a basket by the woman's arm filled with brochures after brochures.

Erza took one look at Lucy and smiled. "It's better to be prepared, Lucy."

The three of them joined arms and looked around the hall for Fiore University because Lucy wanted to inquire about the school. "What's wrong, Lucy? You seem down." Erza asked, hating the eerie atmosphere that her cousin was emitting.

"Well, it's just that Natsu-" Before Lucy could even finish, Erza had her hands on her shoulders and was looking at her with a hard stare.

"If that pink-haired bastard hurt you in any way, I will pummel him to death."

"What?" Lucy laughed, not finding the energy to retort because she knew that her cousin was serious. "Well, I hope you wouldn't because he didn't really mean to, but he's kind of the reason why I'm a bit gloomy. I'm sorry by the way, I must be a huge mood killer right now."

"Oh, don't be sorry, Lu!" Levy exclaimed, her grip on Lucy's arm tightening. "Tell us what happened."

"It's just that, I saw him a while ago with Lisanna, and some kid told Lisanna how she's jealous of her for having a boyfriend like Natsu." Lucy sighed, pausing as Levy and Erza cooed soothing words. "I was relieved when she admitted that they weren't together but then she added how they were getting there!"

"Oh my," Lucy's head snapped to see Mira.

"I know, Mira." Lucy sighed, "I mean, what could've Natsu been doing for Lisanna to even _think_ that they were getting there? Was he leading her on? I know that's wrong of me to think but I can't help it!" Despite her futile attempt to bury the memory deep in her brain, she still wanted to talk it out with her best friends and tell them everything.

"Oh, Lucy, it's going to be okay." Levy said, rubbing Lucy's arm to comfort her.

"Why don't we forget about that boy-bastard and focus here?" Cana offered. "Look, it's nerd paradise!"

"I guess you're right." Lucy said, a small smile finding its way to her face. "Let's look for Fiore University!"

Lucy nodded her head, a small gesture to encourage herself to stop thinking about Natsu for a moment. What she needed right now was not sympathy talk. She needed to do things to keep her mind off of the subject, and she was just grateful for her friends who knew what to do whenever she doesn't.

A few minutes later, and after getting lost so many times they had practically memorized the whole interior of the hall and where the stalls of which schools were, they finally found Fiore University's. It was by the end of the hall by the very back and it was positioned in a place where there were less students.

"Why did they position such a big university in a secluded place like this?" Levy wondered aloud as they all walked together towards Fiore's number one university's stall.

"Well, it's because we want students to actually look for us instead of just luckily stumbling across us." The man in a simple and black suit with a white dress shirt on said. He was sitting behind the desk with a plastic sign that says _**Fiore University**_ in front of him. He had a small smile on, his hands were intertwined and were placed in front of him in a clean manner. "So, how can I help you, dear ladies?"

"We were wondering if you could tell us anything about the school?" Lucy asked and sat down on the chair in front of the desk while Levy and the others stood around.

"What, precisely?"

"About the requirements, application forms, and when will youl be holding an entrance examination?"

"I also wanna know about the courses you offer." Cana butted in.

"To answer the brown-haired lady's inquiry, here is a brochure with every single course that we offer." The man said, offering everybody a brochure. "For you, young lady," He said, turning to look at Lucy. "The brochure can also answer your questions. However, for detailed explanations, you might want to take a look at this." The man took something out from under the table and handed it to Lucy.

"A booklet? How fancy." Levy muttered and looked at the said booklet over Lucy's shoulder.

"This booklet has the application form inside it so you might want to just fill it up right now so that I can personally bring it back to the university." Lucy opened the booklet and she almost gushed at how informative it was. She opened the small envelope by the end of the booklet and took out a three-page application form.

"What are you still waiting for, Lu?" Levy asked.

Lucy shook her head and stood up, thanking the man for his help before walking away, her friends looking at her as if she had just grown two heads. She stared at the brochure and booklet in her hand and sighed. The moment that she took out the application form, she realized that college was the thing that could possibility tear her away from Natsu and all of a sudden, she was not so sure of attending Fiore University anymore.

Natsu wanted to take up Aviation. That was a course that was being offered by three schools in Magnolia, Natsu could just easily choose one and enroll. Lucy wanted to take up Political Science and that was a course that needed rigorous studying and an established school could give her a boost.

As Lucy walked around, her hands rubbing each other in a clear sign of agitation, the conversation that her friends were having around her was being drowned. She looked left and right for any schools that offered Political Science that was located in Magnolia, just so she could have a second choice. Just before they reached the end of the schools that were in the back of the ball, her eyes caught sight of one school that enticed her.

 _ **Blue Pegasus University**_

The school had a tarpaulin with a list of courses on its side and among them were Aviation. Lucy rushed to the stall and sat down in front of a turd-colored-haired young man who looked to be around Lucy's age or older, he had a name pin on the left side of his dress shirt that read Hibiki Lates. "Hey, man, could I have a brochure from your school?" Lucy asked, a giddy smile on her face.

"Oh, and what would a pretty lady like yourself be doing walking around here alone?" The man named Hibiki answered.

"Would you be a dear and just hand the pretty lady a brochure like she asked?" Lucy felt a chill run down her spine as Mira butted in and placed a threatening hand on the desk. Hurriedly, the man grabbed a brochure and handed it to Lucy.

"Just as a survey, what course got you interested to approach us?"

"Oh, it's for my boyfriend." Lucy answered, looking at the brochure and scanning it for any information. "He wants to take up Aviation."

"That's perfect, then!" Hibiki exclaimed, whipping out another piece of paper and handing it to Lucy. "This has information about our Aviation courses and he's very lucky because we are the best in the field and we're stationed in Crocus, which means that he gets to be in the capital of our great nation!"

Lucy's eyes lit up at Hibiki telling her about how they're the best school in the country when it comes to Aviation and how they were in Crocus! Oh, how the day has completely turned! She has to tell Natsu about this!

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" Lucy exclaimed and offered her hand for Hibiki to shake before hurrying off to Levy and the others and showing the brochure to them. "I just found the perfect school for Natsu!"

* * *

By the time they got back to their hotel room, everyone was beyond exhausted and their feet were just aching from all the walking they had done but their stomachs were rumbling from the lack of food and so they all decided to just order take out instead of going out.

Lucy's jealousy has subsided and was now replaced with excitement about the news she had for her boyfriend. Just as Lucy was about to tell Erza about her order, her phone dinged, signalling her that she had just received a text and judging by the sound of the ding, it was from Natsu.

 _ **From: Anon**_

 _ **i'm outside the hotel. dinner? i won't take no for an answer.**_

Lucy smiled at Natsu's text before slipping on her Nike 270s and telling everyone about her sudden change of plans. She got the spare key for the hotel room just in case she gets back late and Natsu's scarf. She rummaged her bed for the brochures that she had received from Blue Pegasus and carefully stuffed it in her purse.

Outside, Natsu was leaning against his car and was staring into the darkness before him intently, his arms crossed over his chest. "What's wrong?" Lucy asked as she approached Natsu.

"Oh, hey Luce." He said, snapping out of his trance and grabbing Lucy in for a hug. Natsu placed his hands in her shoulders and planted his lips on hers in a heated kiss. Once they pulled away for air, Lucy's face was flushed from the lack of oxygen and from the chilly Autumn air. She buried her face deeper in Natsu's scarf before smiling and going around the car to go inside.

The car ride on the way to the restaurant was silent. Lucy wanted to tell Natsu about the university when his attention was undivided and if she started talking now, it was bound to slip out instantly. And so, she opted to stay silent until they got to the restaurant.

The restaurant that Natsu had chosen was one of Lucy's personal favorites; 8-Island. Even after they were seated, Lucy still couldn't find the right time to break the overwhelmingly good news to him. Although now that she thinks about it, there is a possibility that he already has a plan for college or if not, then perhaps his parents. As the waiter gave her the menu, it took all her will to keep her eyes focused on the menu in front of her instead of Natsu who was already spouting out meal orders after another.

Once they had both finished ordering, Lucy turned her attention to the glass of strawberry shake in front of her and fidgeted on its straw. "What's bothering you, Luce?"

Lucy looked at Natsu and turned her attention to him for the first time since they had seen each other at the parking lot of the hotel. Her thought earlier made it even harder to tell him about it. What if he declines? How is she supposed to feel when he does? Lucy shook her head, deciding to just go with the flow and tell him. It was now or never. She took a deep breath before talking, "Well, I have some news and I'm not sure if you're gonna like it."

Natsu only looked at her, his brows scrunched up. Lucy grabbed her purse from the back of the chair and pulled out the brochure from Blue Pegasus. "We were looking around the convention this morning and I saw this school. They're stationed at Crocus, not too far from Fiore University, and they're the best in the country when it comes to Aviation."

Lucy looked at Natsu, a huge smile spread across her face. Natsu took the paper from her hands and scanned it, his eyes moving from left to right as he read what was written. "Well whadd'ya know? It's the one school I've been looking up."

Her eyes sparked with happiness at his words as her hands grabbed his, her huge grin turned into a heartwarming smile. "Really? So you knew about Blue Pegasus?"

"Of course, I did." Natsu replied, placing his hand over hers. "But why were you unsure about my reaction?"

"I wasn't sure if you're gonna be open with the thought of leaving your family, you know? I know how important they are to you." Lucy's head dropped at the mention of his family, ashamed of herself for even thinking about asking him to move to Crocus with her and leave his family behind for a few years.

"Lucy," Natsu started, his eyes bore into Lucy's own chocolate orbs. "Do not ever feel guilty for what you feel because let me tell you, you are being completely reasonable. You don't have to burden yourself with the things that you are feeling. That's why you have me now, don't you? I'm here for you, and I will always be."

Lucy stared at Natsu, his eyes sparkling from the night light that had seeped through the window of the restaurant. Lucy realized then, as Natsu gripped her hand and traced circles in them, that she had nothing to fear. Not the people who are going to judge her, not the school administration who are going to be shaking their heads at their most promising student having a romantic relationship, and not from Natsu's parents who are going potentially going to disapprove of her love for their son.

Lucy knew, as she took in Natsu's warm smile that was, as of this moment, was only for her, that she loves this man beyond words could ever hope to explain and that he was worth it all the way. He was worth all the trouble that she will be experiencing from here on out, and that he was worth all the pain and all the judging stares people will throw her way.

Because he was Natsu Dragneel, and he made her smile like no one ever could and because he was Natsu, he was always going to be worth it.

"Natsu," Lucy started. She knew what she wanted now. She was sure of it and there was nothing that could stop her. "I want to be with you, and I mean that in the simplest of ways. I want to be with you at school and I want to be able to love you all the time, not just at home when it's just the two of us. I want people to look at you and think that 'this man is being loved by a certain Heartfilia'. I want you to look at yourself and realize that I love all of you, all the time."

Natsu smiled and opened his mouth to say something but Lucy cut him off to it. "So, Natsu Dragneel, will you go to the Winter Formal with me and be my boyfriend for the world to see?"

Natsu's smile faltered, and Lucy couldn't help but scrunch her eyebrows. Had she said something wrong? Didn't he want this as well? Lucy retrieved her hand from under his and placed it over his hand, caressing it. She shouldn't jump into conclusions. "What's wrong, Natsu?"

"Well, it's just that I've already kinda asked Lisanna to go to the Ball with me."


	14. Chapter 14: 愛の宣言 (Declaration of Love)

**Hey everybody, I am so happy to be able to update in time! I would like to thank MasterGildarts, yet again, for sharing with me how she felt about the last chapter and Faye for reviewing my story! I went to a book bazaar yesterday and bought a copy of Scorch Trials among others only to find out when I got home that I already have one. Well, I guess I'll just continue living my life with two copies of Scorch Trials. Ugh.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter!**

 **Secret Love:** **愛の宣言 (Declaration of Love)**

 **Previously on SL:** _Natsu's smile faltered, and Lucy couldn't help but scrunch her eyebrows. Had she said something wrong? Didn't he want this as well? Lucy retrieved her hand from under his and placed it over his hand, caressing it. She shouldn't jump into conclusions. "What's wrong, Natsu?"_

 _"Well, it's just that I've already kinda asked Lisanna to go to the Ball with me."_

* * *

Natsu and Gray got off from the bus to catch even a wink of sleep to see that there was a small convention by the Margaret Hall and this time, it was for the student-athletes. There were various schools that were offering scholarships in return for their talent in sports. The two of them decided to visit the convention and see if there were any interesting ones.

"Man, I didn't think that helping kids with practice would be that much of a hassle." Gray muttered as he caressed his neck that was hit by a soccer ball earlier this morning when they were at the local soccer field, offering their help to the town's aspiring athletes.

"I think I broke a rib, dude." Natsu said as he felt around his chest area for any damage. The pain was annoyingly throbbing and it got to his nerves.

After what Natsu blurted out last night, it became hard to talk with Lucy. She became uncooperative and embarrassed, muttering about how she shouldn't have said just what came into her mind at the moment and Natsu did his best to comfort her and tell her how it was good that she was finally being open about her thoughts to no avail.

When Natsu drove them back to the hotel and parked, Lucy didn't even wish him good night or spare him a kiss and instantly dashed out of the car and into the hotel. Natsu, on the other hand, stayed completely still behind the wheels and let his thoughts slowly drive him insane. Why did he have to ask Lisanna out just because of a picture of Lucy and Sting? He knew at the time that he would regret it and that he shouldn't ask Lisanna now but he was just so frustrated at the time that his thoughts and mouth didn't cooperate well.

After banging his head against the steering wheel multiple times, a knock on the car window surprised him. Gray was looking at him with confusion, and he decided to sleep his sadness away.

"So, are you about ready to talk to me about what the fuck happened last night?" Gray asked, his hands resting on the pockets of his jeans.

Silence was Natsu's temporary answer but as they went inside the Hall, he realized that it would be better to get it off his chest and who knows, maybe voicing it out would help him come out with something. It doesn't have to be grand, it just has to be something that could help him bring Lucy's mood up again.

Natsu took his time, trying his best to come up with words that would help him let Gray understand about the situation. The two walked around in silence while Natsu thought. When they reached the last line of stalls, Natsu saw a big blue and green sign that said _**Blue Pegasus University**_.

He approached it while Gray followed him silently, letting his best friend think for himself. Natsu knocked the small table and asked the man for any scholarship forms and when the guy with a name pin that says _Hibiki_ handed him one, he quickly filled it up with its needed information.

Natsu gave the form back to the man and left without a word. He didn't really need a scholarship but he decided to apply for one, not entirely sure if his Father would allow him to attend a school for Aviation, let alone study it. But now that he thinks about it, his Father never really forced something to him but whenever he does suggest stuff, Natsu was just too compliant to say no.

Natsu sighed, his family should not be one of his problems right now. He rubbed his hands together again before looking at Gray who had stopped by a stall and was reading whatever was written on the tarpaulin near its table.

"Lucy and I had dinner together last night, it was something I came up with because I really missed her." Natsu started, his hands fumbling with each other, a clear sign of agitation from him. Gray turned to look at him, completely forgetting about the thing he was reading. "And somewhere along the way, she asked me to go to the ball with her and finally let everyone know about us."

"Really?! That's great then!" Gray said, interrupting Natsu's supposed monologue. The two of them were now looking around the hall and stopped from time to time when Gray saw something interesting but not Natsu because ever since Lucy showed him that brochure from Blue Pegasus last night, he was sure that he would attend that school by the next school year. There was no changing his mind.

"It doesn't end there." Natsu pointed out, looking at Gray with pointed eyes. "You remember how Mira kept sending me pictures of Lucy yesterday? Well, she sent me one of Sting wrapping his arms around Lucy and it kinda ticked me off which resulted in me asking Lisanna to be me date for the ball yesterday."

Silence enveloped the duo, their conversation paused while everything else bustled around them. Natsu turned to look at Gray and wasn't surprised to see his mouth agape, a look of anger, confusion, frustration reflecting from his eyes. "What the fuck, dude!"

"I know, I know, I screwed up."

"No, you can still do something about it." Gray said, grabbing Natsu's shoulders and blocking the exit. "Tell Lisanna about Lucy."

"I'm not really comfortable with that. Let's just look for Gajeel, it's almost six anyway I'm sure he's back from helping out kids by now." After hiding his relationship with Lucy for about two years now, it was kind of a strange feeling talking about it with people other than Lucy's circle of friends and Gray and the others. It just didn't seem right.

"Stop being a coward, Natsu!" Gray shouted, and Natsu could only blink. His best friend rarely called him by his name but when he did, it was always during times like this, when he needed an awakening. And now, he really did. "You will find Lisanna, tell her about Lucy, and you will go to the ball with your girlfriend and not some girl you don't even want."

Natsu nodded, slapping Gray's hands from his shoulders. "Look for Gajeel, I'll see you guys at our room."

* * *

It had almost been an hour and still, there was no sign of Lisanna and Natsu was starting to think that maybe the world didn't want this to happen. He shook his head, he can't let that kind of mindset shake the resolve that Gray had established for him. He shouldn't give even a single fuck about what the universe wanted.

He was looking around the hotel lobby for a white-haired girl when suddenly, dozens of people ran past him and outside. He had the urge to follow the crowd but he decided against it, thinking how the faster he would find Lisanna, the faster it would be for Lucy to smile again.

Natsu was about to go to the hotel's cafeteria to look for Lisanna there when Gray barreled towards him, Gajeel in tow and his eyes widened when he saw Natsu. "Flame brain! What are you still doing here, you bastard?!"

Natsu scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. What had Gray been doing and why was he so out of breath? The two of them stopped in front of him and Gajeel grabbed his waist before he threw the smaller man on his shoulders. "What the fuck! What are you two doing!? I gotta find Lisanna!"

"That would be pointless if Lucy says yes to Sting now!" Gray shouted as they both ran, following the direction of the crowd.

"Is this what the crowd is all about?" Natsu shouted, looking around for Lucy. Was Sting going to ask Lucy out? Didn't Sting tell him that he wasn't pining after Lucy? Didn't he agree to help him out? Why wasn't he helping out? He was being the cause of the problem now! He didn't even give out any useful information and now he was being a pain in the ass?! Oh, this man's got a rough life ahead of him once Natsu gets a hold of him.

"Yes, Sting's planning to ask Lucy out." Gajeel muttered, his breathing slowly getting labored from running and hauling Natsu's ass.

"How did that smartass get so popular?" Natsu grumbled, upset about the possibility of Lucy saying yes to Sting. Although they did agree to attending the ball with separate people.

"When people found him walking with us, they thought he was a part of us and so now, he has some girls pining after his lousy ass." Gray answered when they came to a stop in front of the small garden of the resort.

Was Sting going to ask Lucy out here?! It was such a fucking romantic place! People were gathered around outside the fence of the garden while two figures stood inside the gazebo.

Gajeel put Natsu down and pushed his cousin forward, silently cheering him on. Natsu took a deep breath before he opened the small gate of the garden and stepped inside. He could hear a series of gasps from the other side of the fence and he couldn't help but look back at Gray and Gajeel. Was he doing the right thing?

All he received was a small nod from his best friends and a small smile appeared on his face, a strong determination lit up in his heart. He was doing this. He turned his head to look at the on-lookers. A crowd. Great, it would make letting people know about his love for Lucy easier. This would travel fast and it would reach the whole school before the night even ends. Perfect.

Natsu walked to the center of the small garden where a gazebo with two people inside was aesthetically placed. Natsu did a quick look back to the people on the other side of the garden and realized that they were looking at him with strange faces. They don't know why Natsu Dragneel was barging in on a possible confession between a new school jock and a teacher's pet.

"So, Lucy what will it be?" Natsu heard Sting ask. So he really did ask Lucy. Before Lucy could answer, Natsu decided it was best for him to ruin the moment now.

"Luce," Natsu said, entering the gazebo and making his voice loud enough for everybody to hear, but not so loud that it could already be called a shout. "I wanna go to the ball with you."

A series of gasps erupted from outside the garden at his sudden invitation and Natsu couldn't help but smirk at the fact they were getting more than that tonight. Before Lucy could even ask him what he was doing, or stop him from letting everyone know about what they have, he slowly sauntered towards her as he continued. "We've been together for two years now and I want you to really understand your value. You're amazing and honestly, you could do better than me but I don't think I'm open to that idea. I love you and I want everybody to know."

Natsu paused to take in Lucy's reaction. He was now standing right in front of her and he couldn't help but appreciate how the moon light was illuminating her blonde hair and Natsu found it hard to breathe the longer he drank her beauty. She looked stunning under the night sky, even with her crumpled shirt probably from helping around the library with Levy earlier this morning. He took Lucy's hands in his and placed it by his heart. "Ya hear that? You're one of the reason why it's still beating and I don't know how to thank you for that. I know I did a wrong move last night but I hope you can forgive me for that. I don't want to hide the wonderful thing we have anymore."

Lucy had a warm smile on her face, and tears were threatening to spill from her eyes. She was still silent and Natsu, who was running out of words now, decided to grab her by her waist and plant his lips on hers. He was kissing her. He couldn't help but smile while they lost themselves on the feeling because he was finally kissing her in front of others. It had always been a dream of his and now, it was finally happening!

Natsu held back a moan as Lucy snaked her hands to his hair and messed with it. When they both pulled back, their breaths were labored and Sting was nowhere in sight. "I love you." Lucy said, her left hand wrapped around Natsu's neck while the other caressed his shoulders.

"Well whadd'ya know, I love you more." Natsu said before he placed a chaste kiss on Lucy's lips. He wrapped his arms tighter around Lucy and took in her features. Her eyes sparkled from the stars that illuminated the sky while her hair swayed lightly from the light breeze. A small smile appeared on her features before it broke to a grin and evolved into a full blown laugh and hearing her laugh, Natsu couldn't help but join in as well.

Here they were, wrapped around each other as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Are ya guys done? Can't have people sexing it up there, ya know!" Gajeel's voice echoed across the night and Lucy stopped laughing, her face turning red. Natsu, on the other hand, let a small chuckle out and grabbed Lucy's hand while he led her outside.

Their classmates and schoolmates were still gathered around the fence and Natsu's eyes caught a shade of white among the sea of people but at the moment, he didn't care because he was holding Lucy's hand in front of everybody and it felt great.

Natsu and Lucy greeted Gray and the others while Sting hid behind Gajeel, and Natsu, without letting go of Lucy's hand, walked towards Sting, a murderous aura surrounding him. "What the fuck was that all about?" He growled.

"Stop it, man." Gray laughed, patting Natsu's shoulders before looking at Lucy and giving her a smile. "We asked him to do that, I'm sorry we didn't have the time to tell you, Lucy."

Lucy shook her head and traced circles on Natsu's hand with her thumb to calm him down. "It's okay." Lucy said before turning to Sting. "But my answer would be yes, Sting."

Natsu turned to Lucy so fast he almost got whiplash, "What?!"

Lucy turned to Natsu and her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Well, we did agree that you'll go with Lisanna while I will just go with whoever asks me out firsts."

"But you asked me to go to the ball with you last night!"

"Yeah, but you already asked Lisanna out." Lucy replied. "It's wrong to go against your words, Natsu. You should know that."

Natsu was about to retort when Lucy only glared at him. He dropped his head and muttered a small apology.

"Ha! Can't believe flame brain's getting a lecture!" Gray shouted before shutting up when Lucy turned to him.

"Anyway, let's go." Lucy turned to Natsu again and smiled, tugging him away from the crowd of people who were too baffled with what just happened to utter a single word.

"Hey what was this thing all about?" Natsu asked Lucy, showing her the picture of Sting wrapping his arms around her.

Lucy gasped before taking Natsu's phone with her free hand, quickly deleting the photo. "Why do you have a picture of me that day?! Were you there!?" Lucy exploded, feeling embarrassed that Natsu had seen her wrapped around some other guy's arms albeit the fact that it might have been unintentional.

"No, Mira sent it to me." Natsu denied, taking back his phone before looking at his girlfriend once again, mentally nudging her for answers.

"Damn, that woman. Well, Sting saved me that day." Lucy said, looking up to stare at Natsu's emerald green eyes. "I was on my way to get some food from the truck from across the road when a car suddenly swerved right in front of me. That man was driving way beyond the speed limit! It was ridiculous!"

"What!? You almost got hit!?" Natsu couldn't care about some man who was driving too fast, and he didn't understand how Lucy could when she almost got hit.

"Yeah, but that man was driving too fast!" Lucy retorted. "He could've hit some kids, you know!"

" _You_ were nearly hit, how come you don't care about that?!"

"Sting got to me before that car did." Lucy dead-panned.

"About those pictures," Gray suddenly interrupted the two. "We kinda asked Mira to send that one to ya, Flame Brain. Didn't really expect our plan to backfire, though."

"What?" The duo asked, completely out of the loop. Didn't Mira send him those pictures because Natsu himself asked for it?

"Yeah, we kinda did that so that you'd just hurry up and get your relationship public." Sting answered for the rest of them.

The two remained silent, still not getting the gist of what just happened. "Argh, you are both so irritating." Gajeel grumbled, ruffling his hair with his hand before gathering it to pull it to a ponytail. "We mean, both of our parties, us and Lucy's friends, had something to do with everything that's been going on. After Sting talked to Lucy in private, the first person he told was Gray and we decided to just do something about it. And so, that's what we came up with but when it backfired, we decided to go with Plan B."

"Which was?" Lucy inquired.

"Which, Bunny Girl, was to have Sting ask you out for the Ball." Gajeel finished.

"We didn't really expect you to say yes, though." Sting said, wanting Natsu to know that he really didn't have any motive to really ask Lucy out.

"Well you did, and I said yes so there's no taking back." Lucy said, giving Sting a glare to show him that she means what she said.

"Would that be okay with Natsu, though?" Sting asked, looking at the pinkette who was still holding his girlfriend's hand and was glaring at the night sky.

"He's got no choice." Lucy laughed, pecking Natsu's cheek so that he wouldn't let the small matter of the ball get to him. When she did, he looked at her and grinned before placing a chaste kiss on her lips. "He was the first one to ask Lisanna out. And when I asked him last night, he totally said no."

"Hey, that's not what I said!" Natsu denied, going back to grumbling. "I even went around looking for her to tell her about us. I wanted to go with you to the ball so I ran around the hotel, meaning to tell her about it."

"That's not okay, Natsu." Lucy said, lightly scolding him.

They were now inside the hotel and were making their way to the cafeteria. Natsu couldn't help but beam inside at the way people were looking at them.

Whispers were booming from left and right as they passed through the hall. Natsu pulled a chair for Lucy just like he always does and sits beside her. "What do ya wanna eat?"

"Care to surprise me?" Lucy smiled before Natsu smirked at her and leaving.

Natsu looked around the buffet area before picking a tray and filling it with Lucy's favorites. When he was done getting food for himself, he went back to the table to see that Lucy's circle of friends had joined her. He sat beside her and they all looked at him with wide eyes, probably surprised at him for sitting beside her when they were out in public with so many people who knew them around.

"What, ya haven't told them yet, Luce?" Natsu asked before handing Lucy her tray.

"Nope, I wanted to see their faces." Lucy laughed as she started eating.

"Does everybody know?!" Levy asked, her eyes still wide from the sudden realization.

"I don't know about everyone, but the people who saw us kiss certainly does." Lucy joked, wanting to tease her best friends a bit more.

"Oh, it's such a joyous day!" Everybody turned to look at Juvia who was sitting beside Gray. So everybody knows about those two as well, huh? "Gray asked me to accompany him to the ball, not that there was a surprise there, Natsu and Lucy are out in public, and Gajeel asked Levy out on a date!"

Gasps were immediately heard from all around. Why were the school's most popular group of men sitting around with the school's nerds?! Natsu turned to smirk at his cousin, so he does like little Levy. He had his suspicions but he never expected for his cousin to actually do something about it.

Levy's face was deep red from Juvia's sudden outburst and Natsu heard his cousin choke on his meal. So everybody already knows about everything, huh? Natsu smiled before looking around the table. He has wished this for two years now and he couldn't help but feel happy at the fact that it has finally happened.

This was right. Even if it was their first time dining together, he couldn't help but feel that it was just right and even though they look weird together, Natsu knows that it was how things should be.

"I guess you're right Juvia, it is a joyous day." Erza said, nodding her head and everybody smiled, silently agreeing with the red head.


	15. Chapter 15: ニュース (News)

**OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! I GOT SO BUSY PLANNING FOR OUR YEAR END PARTY AND ALL AND WE HAD A LOT OF STUFF TO DO BEFORE THE YEAR ENDS I'M SORRY! THIS HAS BEEN ON MY LAPTOP FOR WEEKS NOW. ANYWAY, I HOPE YOU ENJOY.**

 **Secret Love:** **ニュース (News)**

 **Previously on SL:** _"I guess you're right Juvia, it is a joyous day." Erza said, nodding her head and everybody smiled, silently agreeing with the red head._

* * *

Lucy was sitting between Juvia and Levy while Erza and Jellal stood behind the Mr. Capricorn as he delivered a few words to welcome the Mayor of the town of Margaret. They were currently gathered at the Founder's Hall of the resort as a way to commemorate their Five-Day Outreach Tour where the town's mayor was requested to give a few words of thanks.

"Now, may we welcome, Margaret's very own, Mayor Ooba Ba, to share with us a few words before we go." Mr Capricorn ends before directing the Mayor to the podium. A series of claps and cheers erupted from the crowd as the man stepped up into the stage.

"My, my, thank you." Mayor Ooba Ba said as he tried to silence the crowd so that he could start speaking. "Our town would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for lending us your services for even a few days and helping the orphans of this town realize that they are not alone in this world. Thank you for being a good role model for the future of this town and I wish you all success in your future endeavors."

He took a deep breath as he scanned the crowd of students before continuing. "I hope you had a great time here and I hope you also learned a lot from the kids as much as they have learned from you. This five-day out of school outreach tour of yours may have been just a short portion of your lives but I assure you, you have changed lives during your stay here, and we are sincerely grateful for that."

Lucy smiled, agreeing with the mayor's words. Indeed, the five-day outreach was gone in a blink of an eye and while Lucy was happy to have had the chance to bond with the kids of the town, she was eternally grateful for this opportunity because it gave Natsu and Lucy a chance to take their relationship to the next level. Now, she didn't have to feel empty as she gazes longingly at Natsu as he sat beside Lisanna during lunch because he will be spending his lunches with her from here on out, that's if he wants to. He could still continue spending his lunch time with his usual group of people and Lucy would be fine with that, even if that group of people included Lisanna.

"I wish you all a safe travel as you return home and I wish to see you all to succeed in the future." The mayor said, ending his speech. Lucy clapped her hands together along with everyone, applauding the mayor for his speech. Moments later, Erza was standing behind the podium and the crowd has gone silent in an instant.

"Wow, your cousin's really something." Levy muttered beside her and Lucy could only snicker.

"She's Erza, after all."

"You have the rest of the morning free, you may wander around the town, safely, I must add, or spend the rest of the day relaxing back in your rooms. You may do as you please and we will see you fifteen minutes before four in the afternoon by the parking lot of the hotel. No one shall be late." Erza warned, as her sharp brown eyes glared daggers to no one in particular. "Am I making myself clear?"

Sudden bursts of approval resounded across the wide hall before everybody stood up to leave. "What should we do now?" Juvia asked as they walked back to their hotel room.

"Hmm, I think we should start packing but would anyone want to go around the town?" Lucy suggested before looking at Cana who was usually so upbeat when it comes to exploring new places.

"I would." The five of them turned to see Natsu, grinning from ear to ear, Gray and the others walking behind him. "Wanna go exploring, Luce?"

Lucy laughed at her boyfriend. She could certainly get used to how open they were being. Sure, the gazes of others still bother her and it made her skin crawl with anxiousness but whenever she looks at him, it just reassures her that they both made the right choice. "Sure, but I want to pack first. Can I do that before we go strolling?"

Natsu nodded his head before giving her a chaste kiss right on her lips. "See ya later, then."

* * *

Lucy and the others lugged their luggage down to the hotel lobby as per Erza's orders so that the staff could start filing it inside the bus but as Lucy placed hers beside her cousin's, somebody grabbed it. She looked up to see Natsu, a small smile on his features.

"What are you doing?" Lucy asked, smiling but not ceasing her grip on her luggage.

"I'm gonna put it inside my car, what else?"

"I'm riding with the bus, though." Lucy said, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"Nope." Natsu answered, popping the 'p'. "You're coming home with me."

Lucy turned to look at Levy and Erza who were watching the scene unfold before their eyes. Would it be okay for them? She didn't want them to feel any less important just because her relationship with Natsu was now out in the open.

When Erza nodded her head in approval as Levy giggled at her predicament, she knew they'd be okay with it and in fact, they even supported it.

Lucy let Natsu lug her belongings to his car and she hugged the two, thinking that by the way Natsu was acting, she wasn't going to see them for the rest of the day. "I'll see you Monday. Tell the others I said goodbye." Lucy said, remembering her other blue-haired friend who was spending the day with her own 'beloved', as she liked to word it, while Cana and Mira had already gone off on their own.

"Be careful on your way home." Erza said.

"Remember to tell us once you get home safely!" Levy reminded.

Lucy laughed and nodded her head before turning around to follow Natsu who was now inside his Jeep. Once she fastened her seat belt, she looked at him with a smile. "Where to?"

"When we were driving on our way here, we happened to drive past a book store." Natsu said, wiggling his eyebrows. "Wanna check it out, Luce?"

Lucy laughed and shook her head. "Is that even a question?"

Natsu faked a gasp before starting the ignition. "You're right, how dumb of me."

When they arrived at the said bookstore, Lucy couldn't help but gasp because when Natsu said book store, he didn't mention that it was one of the largest ones in the country. "Are your arms ready for book cramps?" Lucy teased.

"Is it ever?" Natsu laughed as he pumped his arms. It was now a running gag between the two of them that beyond anything, Lucy shopping for books was the most painful experience for Natsu's arms because unlike clothes, books weighed a ton of shit and whenever his arms hurt from carrying Lucy's books for her around the store as she continued to browse, she always called it 'book cramps'.

They both entered the store, the scent of age old parchment hit Lucy's nose and the waft of freshly packed books greeted them. Lucy couldn't help but grin at the sight because even after going to countless of book stores, the ones that also hit Lucy right in the feels were ones that still sold rolled up books from the past and this store was one of the few remaining in Fiore to do so.

The two of them looked around the store that was as wide as all of the three halls of the Lamia Scale Resort combined and luckily for Natsu, they had a push cart for him to use while Lucy browsed. By the time Lucy was done, Natsu had to get another cart just to avoid carrying the books himself.

"Why do you always buy the same kind of books?" Natsu asked looking at the books that were now placed at the two carts that he was pushing while Lucy carried a few in her arms that she liked too much to let go.

"They aren't the same, Natsu." Lucy answered as she gripped the books to her chest tighter as if they would disappear the moment she loosens her hold on them. "They just talk about the same topic. I'm interested in them after all."

Lucy looked back at the stacks of books that she had placed on Natsu's cart; books about Astrology, zodiacs, stars, writing, fantasy, and even magical creatures filled the carts to the brim. She nodded and led the two of them to the counter, thinking that that should be enough for now.

"I'm paying, okay?" Lucy warned Natsu as he whipped out his wallet as she placed the books by the counter. "I still have the rest of my allowance for the five-day trip that Dad gave me and Mom handed me a few more."

"Fine." Natsu grumbled as he placed his wallet back in his back pocket. "But I'm paying for lunch."

* * *

By the time lunch rolled around, Natsu and Lucy were strolling through the city's market area. Lucy decided to leave their lunch arrangement to Natsu because he had a knack for choosing great restaurants. When he finally found one that agreed with his gut, they entered the place.

"What do ya wanna eat?" Natsu asked as they sat and browsed through the menu.

Lucy scanned the menu until she saw something that appealed to her. "I'm going to have some Alfredo pasta and some fries as sides. How about you?"

"Pretty much everything here." Natsu laughed as he continued to look at the menu. "How about drinks?"

"Just some iced tea."

"Great." Natsu said, nodding. By the time waiter approached them, he still wasn't finished going through the entire menu.

"I need to go to the bathroom, would you be okay with ordering by yourself?" Lucy teased as she stood up, taking her purse with her.

"Shut up, Luce." Natsu grumbled as he shooed her away.

When Lucy reached the comfort room, she immediately opened her purse to take her chap stick out. For hours now, her lips have felt dry and it was starting to get on her nerves.

"Lucy," the said girl looked back to see a white-haired girl staring at her through the mirror. Lisanna fully opened the cubicle door before stepping out and letting it creak behind her.

"Lisanna."

"Perfect timing." Lisanna said as she approached the sink and washed her hands. "I wanted to talk with you."

"About what?" Lucy asked, choosing to remain oblivious although she did have a general idea of what the white-haired beauty wanted to talk about.

"About Natsu, of course." Lisanna laughed as she turned off the faucet and proceeded to dry her hands with a paper towel. "Look, I didn't know he was dating somebody and if I hurt you in any way because of how I acted around him, I would like to apologize for that."

"There's no need for an apology, you didn't know after all." Lucy smiled as she placed her chap stick back inside her purse, not entirely comfortable with meeting her eyes. "Although now that we're out in the open, I'm kind of scared for what's next. His parents do want you to be a part of his future."

Lisanna cackled and Lucy couldn't help but stare at the girl who was having a hysterical fit in front of her. "Don't start getting chummy with me, Heartfilia. I still don't like you guys, and I don't understand how my sister does but I _am_ sorry for my advancements on Natsu when he was already taken, but that's all. Besides, I don't want to be married to some guy who clearly loves somebody else."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Although from what I heard, you were scared of being judged which was ridiculous because that will always happen wherever you are, no matter what you do. You should just stop caring about what the world thinks about you guys because in the end, what you think about each other is what matters." Lisanna added before opening the door to the dining area. "Again, I am sorry for being all clingy on a taken man but don't think it's all my fault. You shouldn't have been ashamed of him in the first place."

"Lisanna," Lucy called out and when the said girl stopped, she continued. "Natsu's still going to the ball with you."

Lisanna huffed before looking at Lucy by her shoulders. "Of course, that's the kind of guy he is."

* * *

The two were now driving on their way home. After looking around town, they initially planned on going back to the resort to enjoy some of their amenities but by the time they were done exploring the downtown market, the sun had already set and dinner was starting to be served by restaurants. Instead, they decided to call it a day and start their drive back to Magnolia after dinner.

The atmosphere inside the car was silent yet comfortable, the only sound that emitted from the vehicle was from Natsu's speakers as it blasted _The Killers_ on shuffle. Lucy didn't mind, she liked it, in fact. But something had been bothering her after her talk with Lisanna. The white-haired girl thought Lucy was too ashamed of Natsu and that that was reason why they decided to keep their relationship a secret.

"Natsu?" Lucy said, breaking the silence that has enveloped them for the past few minutes.

"Hmm?"

"I want to say something."

"Go ahead," Natsu said, replacing his right hand with his left on the steering wheel to hold Lucy's hand while she talked.

"I just want you to know that I'm not ashamed of you. In fact, I am very proud and beyond happy to be your girlfriend." Lucy said, placing her other hand above Natsu's to trace circles on his calloused knuckles.

"Where did all that come from?" A chuckle vibrated from his chest as he talked, glancing at Lucy from time to time.

"Well, I didn't want you to think that that was the reason why I wanted to keep us a secret."

"I already know why you wanted us to be a secret, though."

"Yeah, but when Lisanna and I talked earlier, she told me that I shouldn't have been ashamed of you in the first place." Lucy said, her head dropped at the thought of that rumor circulating around the campus for weeks on end.

"You guys talked?" Natsu asked, sparing his girlfriend a glance before focusing on the road.

"Yes, at the restaurant during lunch."

"Huh,"

"Well?" Lucy asked. Now that she had told him, she didn't really know what to say next.

"Stop overthinking, Luce." Natsu said, a deep laugh rumbled from his chest. "I know ya better than anyone else so you don't have to worry about me misunderstanding your intentions."

Lucy laughed and grabbed Natsu's hand to give it a kiss. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"Now you're apologizing? Damn, what's wrong with ya?" Natsu laughed, looking at Lucy. He removed his hand from Lucy's and caressed her cheeks.

"Nothing, I guess I'm just new to all this. I mean, we were a closeted couple until recently." Lucy laughed, leaning into Natsu's touch. "Anyway, you've been driving for almost an hour now, want me to take over?"

"Nah," Natsu declined. He turned to a corner and Lucy looked at him with confusion. The road between Magnolia and Margaret was a straight way path, there wasn't a turn anywhere.

"What are you doing?"

"I'd rather spend the night here than have you drive." Natsu said as he pulled the car to a stop. "Besides, you might get us involved in a car accident with your crappy driving skills."

"Oh, wow." Lucy laughed, unbuckling the seat belt and getting out of the car. When she stepped down, the chilly air greeted her. Shivers ran down her bare arms and only now did she curse herself for only wearing a shirt and some ripped pants.

Lucy started to rub her hands against her arms in an attempt to warm herself when Natsu draped his jacket behind her and wrapped his arms around his body. "Chilly, huh? You might wanna use my scarf."

"It's inside my backpack." Lucy answered. When they reached the hotel lobby, Natsu asked for a room for them and he gave Lucy the key.

"I'll just grab our packs." Natsu said as he grabbed his jacket from Lucy's and wore it before jogging outside.

Lucy laughed and shook her head. She decided to wait for him while he gets their backpacks because knowing Natsu, he might not even remember which room they were staying at. Lucy sat down on one of the couches by the lobby while she waited for him.

She got her phone out to check for any messages from her best friends and true to her thoughts, there were tons of new texts inside her inbox. Lucy opened their group chat to see that they had just arrived at Magnolia and were currently in the safety of their own homes.

Lucy smiled and sent them a text saying that they were staying the night at a hotel because Natsu didn't want her driving. Next, she decided to send her Mom a text saying that she wouldn't be home until tomorrow because of something unexpected. Lucy decided not to disclose anything specific because she wanted to tell her Mom about it personally. Although, she did say that she was with Natsu just so they wouldn't worry.

"Are ya ready?" Lucy looked up to see Natsu, both of their packs slung over each of his shoulders. She nodded and grabbed hers before leading the way to their room. They were given the room 726 which meant that they had to ride the elevator all way to the seventh floor.

When they arrived, Lucy was quick to plop her pack by the door before falling face first on the bed. A content sigh escaped her lips.

"Aren't ya gonna wash first? I brought you a change of clothes." Natsu asked, pulling out a plain white shirt and shorts.

"Yeah, I'm just relishing the feel of the bed for a while."

"Well, ya can relish all ya want later." Natsu threw the change of clothes over to Lucy.

"These aren't mine." Lucy said as she stood up from the bed and made her way to the bath room. "And you didn't give me underwear."

"Oh, yeah." Natsu opened his pack again before pulling out a red laced underwear, his favorite.

"Ugh, out of all?" Lucy asked as she caught her panties from the air.

"What can I say, they're my favorite." Natsu chuckled before getting his own set of clothes for the night. Lucy rolled her eyes and stepped inside the shower.

When she was done, Natsu had already changed and was already lying down on the bed, watching whatever he had put on the television. Natsu looked up at the sound of the bathroom door opening, his eyes trailing down her figure before a wide smirk emerged on his face. "Mm, yes. I love my clothes on you."

Lucy's eyes widened at Natsu's remark before throwing the hotel-issued towel to his face, not wanting him to see the blush that was furiously attacking her cheeks. "S-shut up. Also, ew, aren't you going to wash up?"

"Nah," Natsu shrugged the sheets off him, beckoning Lucy to join him on the bed. "It's too late for a shower, the water's gonna make it hard for me to sleep."

Lucy nodded before walking over to the bed and plopping down next to him. "Turn it off, I want to be on the road early tomorrow."

Natsu did as he was asked and turned the lamp that was on their bedside table as well before dipping down and wrapping his arms around Lucy. "Ya know, I could get used to this."

Lucy laughed, wrapping her arms around Natsu's toned torso. "I agree, I love feeling your abs."

"Oh, I see." Natsu pulled away to look at Lucy, her face illuminated by the lights outside. "You're just with me for my body, aren't you?"

"You just got this now?" Lucy joked before placing a chaste kiss on Natsu's chest. "This is all I want from you, Dragneel."

"Careful, Luce. You might not get any sleep tonight if you continue your ministrations." Natsu growled.

"Ugh, don't, Natsu. I'm too tired for sex."

"What? I didn't say anything about sex." Natsu chuckled, "You're too horny these days, Heartfilia."

Natsu received a smack to the chest for his comment before Lucy dipped her head deeper and snoring moments later.

Natsu spared a glance at Lucy, her face not really clear because of the darkness but her golden hair was shimmering from the light of the moon and stars that decorated the night sky. A smile crept itself onto his face. As a strand of blonde hair fell on her face, he couldn't help but admire her strength, and beauty, and overall perfection.

* * *

Lucy woke up to the sound of her alarm blasting, signaling that it was time that they woke up and get back on the road before it gets too late. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes before looking at Natsu's sleeping form. He truly looked peaceful as he sleeps. As his brows relaxed while drool dripped from his mouth, Lucy was reminded of how different he looked whenever he was up and about, his eyes slanted with strength and his mouth always pulled in a constant frown.

As she continued to admire his face, she found it hard to wake him up. She smiled and picked up her phone from the nightstand, turning it on to check on the time. 8:00 AM. They still had about an hour worth of driving to do and she was sure that her parents would keep Natsu for about half an hour or so before letting him go home.

She sighed, placing her phone back on the nightstand before standing up to change. It would be better to change and let Natsu sleep for a few more minutes. When she was done, she looked back at how Natsu was dressed. Sweatpants and no shirt on. That was fine.

Lucy approached him and shook him awake. She handed him his shirt when he sat up and picked up their bags from the vanity table. When she looked at him again, he was still on a daze, his shirt resting limply on his lap while he stared at the window outside.

Lucy couldn't help but sigh, it was always like this. He was a morning person, sure, but he was always grumpy when he slept the night before completely drained and tired. Lucy on the other hand, was a grumpy person during the morning but at this point, she was too used to it that she had already developed the skill to not care sometimes.

She sat at the end of the bed before grabbing Natsu's shirt from his lap and dressing him. She smiled at him when she had completely put on his shirt for him before placing a chaste kiss on his lips. "We should get going."

Natsu smiled and nodded, reaching his hand out for Lucy to take.

When they were done with check out and were back on the road, Lucy opened her phone again and sent her Dad a text saying they were already driving and were now about an hour away from Magnolia. "Would it be okay for me to sleep for a while?"

Natsu nodded his head, sipping on his morning coffee. Lucy giggled at the sight. Her boyfriend _is_ a morning person, but not when he hadn't had his morning coffee. Until then, he was a no-talking guy.

By the time Lucy woke up, the car was parked in front of her house and Natsu was unloading her luggage from the Jeep. She unbuckled the seat belt and got outside. "You should have woken me up."

"You were sleeping so soundly, how could I wake you up?" Natsu laughed before handing her bag to her. "And you were snoring."

"Shut up, I know you have no problem waking me up no matter how deeply I slept." Lucy rolled her eyes before leaving Natsu on the road. She opened the door to her house and was greeted by a warm hug by her father.

"Lucy!" Jude exclaimed as he wrapped his arms around her. "Oh, how I missed you so much!"

Lucy could only laugh but pat her dad's back as he suffocated her. "Calm down, dad."

Jude pulled away from her and greeted Natsu with a handshake. Lucy placed her backpack on the couch. "Where's mom?"

"Kitchen, we were just having breakfast." Jude replied, grabbing Lucy's luggage from Natsu and placing it by the side of the couch. "Perfect timing, you should join us."

"Is that okay with you?" Lucy looked at Natsu.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Well, I just think that your parents might be looking for you by now." Lucy replied.

"Nah, I just texted them telling them I'm over at Gray's." Natsu said, waving his phone at Lucy's as she nodded, grabbing his hand as they walked together towards the dining room.

"Lucy, Natsu, you're back!" Layla exclaimed, wrapping her both of them in her arms.

"We are, Mom." Lucy laughed, freeing herself from her mother's grasp and sitting down.

"You haven't had breakfast?" Layla asked as she placed a stack of pancakes on the table.

"Not yet, Lucy wanted to be on the road as soon as possible." Natsu asked, his mouth watering from the view.

"Lucy!" Jude exclaimed, placing pancakes on his plate. "How could you miss out on free breakfast!"

"I wanted to be back home sooner because we both had something to say." Lucy said, the atmosphere turning serious because of her words.

"Lucy, please don't tell me you broke something during the tour." Layla said, dropping her knife on her plate.

"No, Mom, it's not that." Lucy shook her head. She looked at her side to see Natsu holding his hand out for Lucy to take, she placed her had atop his.

"N-no way," They all looked at Jude to see him staring at their connected hands before looking at their eyes, his gaze turning from Lucy's to Natsu's. "Y-you're pregnant, aren't you?"

"What?!" Lucy and Natsu shouted at the same time and Lucy couldn't figure out who was louder between the two of them because her mom joined in.

"No, she's not!" Natsu shouted, clearly agitated with the sudden twist of events. "We just wanted to tell you that everybody at school knows about us now, geez, Jude, stop scaring me like that. "

"OH!" Jude sighed, his hand clutching the shirt over his chest in relief. "You can't blame me! You were holding hands and looking all serious!"

"Seriously, Dad, how did you succeed in running a business?" Lucy rubbed her face.

"Wait, so now you're both official?" Layla asked, chewing her food.

Lucy pondered the meaning of the word, her eyebrows furrowing in concentration. She stared at the bacon and pancakes on her plate before looking up, meeting her mother's eyes. "I guess?" Lucy replied, shrugging her shoulders.

"Huh, what now then?" Jude said. "You know, what about your parents, if you don't mind me asking."

Lucy's eyes widened. It's been almost a day now since almost everybody they knew found out about them and she hasn't even asked Natsu about the most important question.

"I'm gonna introduce her to them, if that's okay with you guys." Natsu replied nonchalantly as if this wouldn't change what they had.

"No problem, sweetie. Just tell us when so I could help Lucy look her best." Layla joked.

"Oh, that won't be necessary. She always looks so beautiful, no matter what." Natsu gushed, chancing a glance at Lucy.

"Really? Even when she just woke up?" Jude grimaced.

" _Especially_ when she just woke up." Natsu laughed, patting Lucy's head as she pouted at her dad's remark.

They finished eating, talking about the trip they had and about the events that happened while they were there. Lucy decided to also talk to them about the school Natsu had found and applied. Thankfully, her parents took it pretty well, even telling them that they would contact some of their friends who were on real estate to help them look for some apartments.

"It's just a couple more months, isn't it?" Layla smiled as Lucy nodded. "You're finally going to college, I can't believe it."

When they were done, Natsu went on his way and Lucy went to her room. She sent a text to Levy and the others telling them that she had safely arrived home before plopping down on her bed, sleep immediately consuming her.


	16. Chapter 16: 意表 (Surprise)

**I WROTE THIS IN ONE NIGHT AND EDITED IT IN AN HOUR SO I HOPE IT'S WORTH IT. THIS IS MY LONGEST CHAPTER YET SO I HOPE YOU ALL FORGIVE ME FOR NOT UPDATING T.T**

 **Anyway, I just want to wish everybody a very long overdue Merry Christmas and a pretty belated Happy New Year! I hope you ended 2018 with a blast and I wish that you guys will be blessed with happiness and success for the new year. This story is coming to an end, and I would like to thank everybody who has read it and supported me through and through. Specially you, MasterGildarts. You know how amazing you are, you special person.**

 **This chapter is dedicated to my friend, Cat and MasterGildarts for being an inspiration. Thank you, you guys.**

 **To user agirl0ntheinternet, here's the chapter you've been waiting for and I wish it meets your expectations lol. Enjoy! R & R :) **

**Secret Love Chapter 16:** **意表 (Surprise)**

 **Previously on SL:** _When they were done, Natsu went on his way and Lucy went to her room. She sent a text to Levy and the others telling them that she had safely arrived home before plopping down on her bed, sleep immediately consuming her._

* * *

Natsu decided, at the first sight of his home, that tonight would be the night that his family were finally meeting Lucy. No, it wasn't one of those glorious moments where he realized the importance of his girlfriend's existence to his life and thought that his family should know it too, because he had already known that Lucy's role in his life was beyond significant.

No, he just thought that it would be better that his parents find out about the love of his life from him than from his father's friend; the Principal.

He also decided to take a quick nap before he spoke a word about it to anyone, even to Lucy herself, because he knows that he will need all the rest he can get when it comes to romantic matters that involves him. His mom _can_ get a little overboard. And so, a nap was what was on his mind. But just before he could hide himself to his room, his mother _just_ had to ask him questions.

"Welcome home, Natsu." Her loving voice greeted him as he entered the overly posh house. "Why weren't you able to come home last night? I thought that you were supposed to be back late at night?"

Natsu, who was sleep-deprived and with thoughts of Lucy swimming inside his mind, answered. "Oh, didn't I text you guys?" When his mother shook her head, a scowl evident on her face, he decided to not give a fuck anymore. Come on, all he wanted was sleep. Was that such a hard thing to have? "We had to stop over the road last night, I couldn't let Lucy drive when she's so tired."

Without saying anything else, he turned to the direction of the stairs and went up to his bedroom for some much needed rest. He pulled his phone out on the way to check the time; _8:00 AM,_ it read. He sighed, running his hand over his salmon hair that needed washing. He opened the alarm app and set one after about six hours so he could take his time preparing before going over to Lucy's.

When he entered his room, he played with the idea of sending Lucy a text about his plan to introduce her to his family tonight but as soon as he caught sight of his bed, the soft mattress was much too welcoming that he decided that the notification for Lucy could wait until after he woke up.

* * *

The sound of his phone blaring music that he couldn't quite place startled him awake. Natsu blinked his eyes once, twice, thrice, before rubbing them and removing any sign. He looked around his room to grab his bearings, stood up, and grabbed his towel to shower before heading to Lucy's place to pick her up.

As he bathed, he decided to take a proper shower for once before he remembered that he had forgotten to send Lucy a text. He sighed, deciding to hurry up after all. Lucy didn't really appreciate impromptu events and dates and while he never really cared before, this was different. She might not be open to the idea of introducing herself to his parents with such short notice.

Right after his long shower (a ten minute shower was pretty long for him), he dashed to his room to change. Blood-red button down shirt and black pants were quite appropriate for the event at hand so he went with just that. He turned to his mirror and decided to at least try and tame his wild locks and after about a minute or two of relentless fighting, he thought it best to give up.

As he put his watch on, a single glance at the time told him that he should get going so he could have enough time to convince Lucy of his plan. He ran to the living room and was grabbing his car keys off of the table by the door when Wendy's voice halted his movement.

"Where are you going now, Natsu?" Wendy shouted from the living room, her sides occupied by their cats while his mom was eyeing him from the love seat, suspicion swimming in her eyes.

"Honestly, son, you're always out and about!" His mom exasperated, scratching Happy's head as the little cat had moved to lounge on her lap. "How about you spend some time with us for a change? What, are you having dinner out again?"

Natsu's heart clenched at his mother's words. It wasn't like he hated her, in contrary, he loved the woman with his entire being. She just wasn't very open minded when it comes to him dating other women besides Lisanna, or so the older woman has hinted. He didn't like how every time he tried to bring up the topic of him seeing a girl, she just always assumed that the girl he wanted to talk about was Lisanna and the glint in her eyes made him not want to tell her otherwise. In the end, he just stopped bringing up the topic anymore because he didn't want to talk about Lisanna while her mother _loved_ to, and he didn't have it in him to correct her.

However, as he looked at two of the most important women in his life, he knew that had to change. He wanted to tell them everything from here on out. He wanted them to know about Lucy's fascination with animals and for her to bond with Wendy because of that and many more. He wanted his mom to know about Lucy's crafty hands that seemed capable of doing anything and for Lucy to learn many things from his Mom and expand her knowledge.

"No, I just need to pick someone up." Natsu smiled, his eyes darting from his younger sister to his mom in silent words. He wanted them to know that they were meeting someone important tonight. "And we're having dinner here if all goes well so you might want to prepare for an extra person. She's got a big appetite."

And without waiting for their response or analyzing the confusion that graced their features, Natsu was out of the house and was on his way to Lucy's in no time. He thought about picking up some chrysanthemums on his way just to win himself some brownie points despite his earlier mishap.

When he arrived at the Heartfilia's doorstep, his nerves were all over the place, his hands clammy and his heart wouldn't stop its incessant throbbing which to him, should be a good thing but as it was the only thing he could hear, he wished for it to tone down a bit. Before he could think about it, his hand balled into a fist and hammered a knock into the family's door.

He couldn't help but grimace, he _never_ knocks on Lucy's house. He just enters. Now that he knocked, they might think that he's here to break up with her. Oh God, the look of Jude's face when that thought enters the older man's face would be horrifying. No, they wouldn't think that when there are flowers on his hand. Wait, _flowers and a knock?_ Good God, they would think he's taking their daughter out to dinner and propose to her right then and there. He should probably stop tucking his hands behind his back.

After a few beats, the door finally opened before Natsu could throw the bouquet to the garden beside him. Layla, in all her beauty and kind face, greeted Natsu. She had on her usual business attire which meant that she must have just gotten home from a day on the court. "Natsu! I thought it was somebody else." Her laugh reminded Natsu of the younger Heartfilia who held his heart. He could only smile and nod before he entered without being told to.

"Yeah, I kinda had something important to tell Lucy." He said, scratching the back of his neck before plopping down on the couch opposite of Jude who was watching some outdated NFL game. "Is she here, by the way?"

"Yes, she's inside her room." Jude answered for his wife without looking away from the TV. "Probably writing or something. You might want to be gentle, wouldn't want another recap of what happened when you jumped on her while she was writing last year."

"You still remember that?" Natsu groaned. Lucy had made him sit on the floor, do a dogeza, and lectured him about interrupting her. He had quickly learned that a concentrated Lucy whose mind is filled with nothing but ideas for her stories is the worst kind of Lucy to play pranks on.

"Good luck dragging her out of her den, Natsu." Layla, who just got back from upstairs probably to check on Lucy, laughed. She headed to the kitchen to probably start fixing something up for dinner.

Natsu chuckled, standing up and grabbing the flowers he got for Lucy. "Are you cooking something for dinner, Layla?" Natsu asked the older woman before he proceeded to Lucy's room to talk to her.

"Yes, do you want anything in particular?"

"No, uh, Lucy and I aren't going to join you guys." Natsu answered. "If everything goes according to plan."

"Why's that? Are you going out on a date?"

"Well, it's not exactly a date."

"They're having dinner with his family, love. Give the man a break." Jude's voice interrupted them, his voice dripping with humor.

"Wha-, how'd you know?" Natsu asked, bewilderment clear on his face. He didn't say anything to Layla, much less to Jude who just sat there watching his game.

"You think I don't know what a nervous guy looks like?" The older man laughed, eyeing Natsu. "I looked as scared shitless as you look right now when I first introduced Layla to my folks."

"Why, were you scared your parents wouldn't like me, dear?" Layla asked, curiosity dripping from her tone. If Natsu were to guess, this must have been the first time Layla heard about Jude's nerves while he introduced her to his family.

Jude let out a huff before he answered his wife. "Wouldn't like _you?_ No, I was scared you wouldn't like them. They _can_ be a little hard to understand, just as you have seen."

Natsu decided to leave the two on their own, he didn't want to hear any more drama coming from a rather serious man like Jude. It just didn't seem right. For those kind of words to come from Jude Heartfilia's mouth didn't seem right. But when he thought about the meaning behind those words, he knew that the older man was probably right.

Only for him, it was a bit of the two. He was scared that his folks wouldn't like Lucy because no matter how lovable the golden-haired beauty was, she wasn't Lisanna. And no matter how happy Natsu feels about the fact that he's _dating_ Lucy Heartfilia, and not Lisanna Strauss, his parents might not think the same way. Also, Lucy might not like his family. Because no matter how bottomless the doe-eyed girl's love is, his family might just not be her kind of people.

But of course, he must be kidding himself. He shook his head, bracing himself to knock on Lucy's door. He should know better than to doubt his family. To doubt _Lucy,_ of all people. The girl he loves is more than someone with bottomless love for everyone. She is Lucy Heartfilia. The girl who was able to accept him despite the scars that decorated his body, despite the canines that protruded from his teeth that seemed to hurt her lips when he got too into it, despite his recklessness, despite appearing inside her room all of a sudden with gashes on his body, and despite his endless flaws.

"Natsu, I know you're there." Lucy's voice broke him from his flow of thoughts. Damn it, he should hand it off to Lucy for disrupting him from the rare moments of his life.

Natsu, with his nerves still all over the place, knocked yet again. "Can I come in?"

Before he could open the door on his own, Lucy greeted him with a smile that told him that he shouldn't worry about his family's opinions about her because whatever they thought, he would love her regardless of it all. "Well, duh."

He laughed despite himself and his nerves, coming inside Lucy's room that has now become so familiar to him that a single change in the position of things didn't go unnoticed to him.

"What's wrong? You're making me nervous."

Natsu shook his head and handed Lucy the flowers before he could say anything. "I, uh, just thought about something that I should do before it's too late."

Lucy eyed him, her eyes filled with questions that she surely didn't want to voice out before he could even clear himself up. "Talk, Natsu. You're unnerving me. If you're here to break up with me, I don't think you should dress up."

"What?!" Natsu shouted, his voice loud with disbelief. "What?! Wha-, how could you say that?! I'm _never_ breaking up with you!"

Lucy laughed, her earlier words not matching up with the jolly expression that graced her face. "Well, what was I supposed to think?" She let out, her words barely understandable as they were said between huffs of laughter. "You were dressed up, you brought chrysanthemums, and you _knocked._ You, Natsu Dragneel, infamous prankster and all around annoying, _knocked._ I thought the chrysanthemums were to let me off gently, you know, just something for me hold onto."

Natsu knew she was teasing him. He knew she was joking. But he also knew that she was scared at the same time. It _is_ rare for him to dress up and knock on her door. "No, Luce, it's not that." He said, his voice void of anything that might suggest that he was joking around. "I want you to meet my family tonight."

Lucy blinked. Once, twice, thrice, before exploding into another fit of laughter. "What, that's it?" Lucy laughed again, and as if her laugh was contagious, he felt himself start to crack up too. "Why are you fussing over something like that?"

"Well, I was scared you wouldn't be up to the idea." Natsu said, the grin that Lucy plastered on his face now sheepish because of his sudden remembrance of his earlier thoughts.

"You're right to think that I might not go with it, because normally, I wouldn't. It _is_ pretty abrupt." Lucy smiled, motioning for Natsu to sit beside her on her bed. "Thought I was actually thinking of the same thing. The whole school probably knows about the two of us now and I don't think I'm very open to the idea of the Principal himself telling your parents about us."

" _That's_ what I was thinking about!" Natsu exclaimed, wrapping his arms around Lucy and dragging them both to lie down on her bed. "Do you think you could get ready for dinner at my place?"

Lucy laughed and buried her head beneath Natsu's scarf, his neck being hidden by the cloth. "Of course."

She placed a chaste kiss on the edge of his mouth before getting up. Natsu, who felt things stir up in his nether regions from Lucy's simple peck, let her go because he knew she would fuss over this while she prepared and she needed every minute she could get.

While she bathed and dressed, Natsu lived off of sneaking glances from Lucy's exquisite figure now and then. He knew he shouldn't jump over her and do her over her bathroom sink now. Not when her parents were home and not while she was preparing for a rather important event. She would definitely kill him now if he were to act on his dick's desire, and yap on and on about damaging the butterfly wings she did on her eyes. Where the heck those butterfly wings were, Natsu couldn't figure it out.

When she was done, he couldn't help but admire the way her white dress fit her. It wasn't like the many dresses she usually wears to special events that hugged her curves and showed off her assets to everyone around them. The dress had thin straps that held the dress to her body while sleeves dropped to her shoulders showing off her collarbones that he usually kissed until they were bruised. The white dress that ended at her knees was also flowy and slightly sheer in material, the flowers that decorated the piece fit her perfectly.

"Are ya about done now?" Natsu commented, his voice teasing. He would never admit it out loud but he loved looking at Lucy while she prepared for anything. And unlike many, he loved it that she took her time. He loved the fact that it took her _hours_ to get ready. To him, it was a proof of Lucy's love for detail. To him, it was just another reason for him to love her. Besides, who wouldn't enjoy watching her dress up? Especially when she was dressing up for a date with him.

"Yes, yes," She laughed, grabbing the white stilettos that she had chosen to wear for the night. "Do I look decent enough?" She asked, facing him on the bed.

" _Decent?_ That word does you no justice, Luce." Natsu laughed, standing up and straightening his dress shirt. "You look bloody beautiful."

"I wasn't really going for bloody, though." Lucy joked, grabbing her purse before touching up on perfume.

"You look _very_ beautiful, then."

"Thank you," Lucy laughed as they descended down to the living room. "You, on the other hand, need to freshen up on your vocabularies."

"Shut up, as if you're any better."

Lucy eyed him, silently asking him if he were sure about what he just said. "Ugh, just shut up."

"What, I didn't even say anything." She laughed before joining her parents on the living room. "We're off to Natsu's place."

"Oh, you should give them this, Lucy." Layla said before they could get out of the house. She handed Lucy a freshly baked apple pie. "I followed your recipe for it."

Lucy nodded and smiled, giving her mom a small peck on the cheek before giving her dad the same. She got out of the house before Natsu did. Natsu, on the other hand, gave Layla a small hug before nodding to Jude. The older man returned the gesture before throwing him a thumbs up in silent cheer. Natsu couldn't help but smile and nod again.

He joined Lucy by the car and opened the passenger door for her before running towards his side and starting the engine.

The drive on the way to his place was silent for a little while until he decided to ask the one question that has been eating him as he watched her get ready for dinner. "Are you nervous?"

Lucy looked at him for a second before a smile graced her face. She grabbed his hand that was on the steering wheel and he let her hold him, opting to drive with his left than to leave Lucy hanging. "No, because I know that even if they wouldn't like me, that won't change your opinion of me. And that is the most important thing to me beyond anything. I can handle being ridiculed by your parents if they're that kind of people, to be hated by your sister for not being the girl she wanted me to be, to not be liked by your cats for reasons I wouldn't know, as long as your love for me stays the same."

Natsu spared her a glance, her smile radiant as she looked forward. He brought her hand to his lips, kissing them tenderly.

As they stayed silent for the rest of the ride, _The Killers_ blasting on the speakers, Natsu knew that he was an idiot for worrying about how this night would end. And as they pulled to a stop in front of his parent's house, all of his doubts were gone, carried away by the wind for some other guy to inhale and take.

"We're here!" Natsu shouted, the house smelled of daisies. His mother should have lit up her little candles.

"Igneel, get down now! Natsu and Lisanna are here." Natsu's mother shouted from the kitchen.

Natsu, eyes wide with disbelief, turned to Lucy. Oh Gods, maybe the air filled with his doubts turned around last minute and made his lungs their permanent home. But when he searched for disappointment in Lucy's eyes, he was surprised to see none. Instead, they were filled to the brim with humor. "What, did you think I came here without expecting that kind of comment? You should know better, Natsu. I write fanfictions and novels, after all."

"Igneel!" Grandeeney's voice boomed, louder this time and filled with impatience. "Come down to welcome Li-" Her voice was cut off when she landed her eyes on Lucy, her blonde locks swaying from the air conditioning and glinting in contrast to what his mother probably expected. "Lisanna?"

"Good evening, Mrs. Dragneel." Lucy smiled, about to introduce herself when Natsu wrapped his arms around her figure, silently stopping her.

"Mom, this is Lucy, my girlfriend." Natsu introduced, while Lucy extended her hand for the older woman to take. "Lucy's mom made this apple pie for us, though the recipe is Lucy's."

"Natsu, you didn't have to tell her that." Lucy said, blushing. Natsu smiled, running his hands up and down Lucy's back to in comfort.

"What? I'm sure it's delicious, I've had your pies countless of times before." Natsu laughed, finding Lucy's discomfort enjoyable. "Plus, it's got Layla's touch of magic which means that it's just the best."

"Are you saying Mom's food is better?"

"Of course it's better, she's the master after all." Natsu joked, wanting to ease the tension. Lucy, despite her earlier discomfort, couldn't help but laugh.

"Wait, anybody care to explain to me why Natsu's wrapping his arms around a blonde-haired beauty instead of a white-haired one?" They all looked at the bottom of the staircase to see Igneel and Wendy, mouths agape with confusion.

"Dad, Wendy, this is Lucy." Natsu said again, tightening his grip on Lucy's waist so she couldn't leave his side. "Lucy, my folks."

"It's very nice to finally meet everybody." She smiled, her face full of genuine happiness. Yes, that was what Natsu wanted to grace her features everyday.

"Well, Lucy, let's talk over dinner." Grandeeney smiled, though her eyes still hinted at confusion.

They all followed the elder woman to the dining table and Natsu pulled the seat for Lucy beside him while he placed the pie by the side of the table together with the other desserts. "Natsu, what about Lisanna?" Igneel started once everybody was seated and eating.

Before Natsu could answer, Grandeeney shushed her husband. "Not in front of the guest, you two."

"Oh, it's okay, Mrs Dragneel." Lucy spoke, waving her hands in front of her in nonchalance. "Actually, I want to be here for the talk. I wouldn't want Natsu to take all the heat. Who knows what he might say."

"Ha! Ya get it." Igneel laughed before turning to Natsu. "Though seriously son, did you ditch Lisanna for her? Because if you did, well, I wouldn't really know what to say."

"No, Dad." Natsu started, punching wholes on his potatoes. "I never had anything romantic going on with Lisanna in the first place. She was just a friend through and through."

"Then why does she always gush about the two of you whenever we talk?" Wendy finally spoke for the first time that evening.

"Because she liked me, duh. Though I only ever saw her as a friend, a sister, at most." Natsu said, his eyes flitting from his food to his family. "I've been with Lucy for two years, now."

Everybody's eyes opened wide at this, probably not expecting their relationship to have already lasted so long.

"Well, what about Lisanna?" Igneel asked again, still not satisfied from his son's early answer.

"What about her?" Natsu sighed, the night has barely started and he was already so tired. "She knows about us if that's what you want to ask. She found out from the trip."

"But she told me that she's going to the ball with you and that you were the one who asked." Wendy inquired.

"Yeah, I'm still going with her." Natsu answered, chicken on his mouth as he spoke. "I asked her before Luce and I went public which was why I ended up going with her."

"Why did you hide your relationship from everyone?" Grandeeney asked this time.

Before Natsu could say anything, Lucy's hand on his lap shut him up in a matter of a second. "It's a pretty long story, Mrs. Dragneel, but pretty much because the school wasn't very open to the idea of its scholars dating and Natsu thought it might be best if we wait for you guys to find out about us." Lucy said before pausing. "Although my parents and our closest friends do know about us."

"Oh, so you're a scholar of Fairy Tail High?" Grandeeney asked the blonde-haired woman beside Natsu.

"She is, and one of the very best." Everybody turned to the blue-haired kid who had spoken a few words for the past minutes.

"You know me?" Lucy asked the younger girl.

"Are you kidding? Everybody does." Wendy laughed, before continuing. There was an apparent blush coating her cheeks as she spoke. "You and your friends are like the geniuses of the school, it'd be pretty hard not to remember you when your face and name is plastered at every tarpaulin that surrounded the school."

"Huh, how did you end up with someone so amazing, son?" Igneel asked after a few seconds of silence. "Wait, are you blackmailing her or something?"

Yep, Natsu know knew where his overthinking came from. "No, Mr. Dragneel." Lucy laughed as she shook her head. "Besides, I don't think a blackmail is enough to make someone stay by his side for two years."

"Ah, you're right. Oh, and call me Igneel, Lucy." Igneel joked back, his words hurtful but dripping with humor. The two of them laughed at their little exchange and Natsu, despite being the center of their jokes, couldn't help but feel warm at the sight of his father and girlfriend bond. "Anyway, why choose now to reveal everything?"

"We got tired, I guess." Natsu shrugged, they were well on their way with their main course. "Everybody from the trip knows about us now and we figured that we should probably break the news to you guys before old man Makarov tells you."

Igneel nodded his head in understanding. "Wow, this pie is amazing, Lucy." Grandeeney complimented as she took bite after bite of the dessert. "Did you say this was your recipe?"

"Yes, but my mom made it which is probably the main reason why it tastes good." Lucy laughed, eating from her own plate. "Thanks, though, Mrs. Dragneel."

"Call me Grandeeney, please." The older woman said as they talked about pie. Which sounded boring but to Natsu, it was the world. He was worried for nothing.

They talked and dined for what felt like minutes but was actually hours. After everyone was done and full, Lucy offered to do the dishes but Grandeeney refused, telling her to sit by the island and have a glass of wine while they talked some more.

Lucy smiled and nodded, sitting beside Natsu. She sipped now and then from the glass Natsu handed her while they talked until Igneel opened a rather embarrassing topic.

"Hey, didn't you tell me that Natsu stopped off the road last night because of Lucy?" Igneel asked his wife while she placed the dishes inside the dish washer.

"Yeah, he said something about not wanting Lucy to drive when she was so tired." Grandeeney answered without sparing them a glance.

"So you guys shared a room, huh?" Igneel teased, his eyes glinting maliciously.

"Dad!" Natsu shouted, hastily covering young Wendy's ears. "Just so you know, nothing happened and that's not an appropriate thing to hint at when Wendy's in the room."

"Damn, you're being really eloquent right now." Igneel laughed while he refilled his glass. "I'm happy you're rubbing some of your intelligence on him, Lucy."

"Pleasure's all mine, Igneel." Lucy laughed, sipping on her red wine. "It's very hard to talk to him when he's saying the same things every time."

"Hey, the butt of your jokes is right beside you, love." Natsu glared at the two of them.

"I know." Lucy laughed looking at Natsu from the side of her eyes.

"Do you guys want to watch anything? I'm making popcorn." Grandeeney asked, motioning for them to move to the living room while she prepared the food.

"Sure, what do you want to watch Lucy?" Igneel asked the blonde as they made their way to the couch. Lucy ended up sitting between Natsu and Wendy.

"Anything is good." Lucy answered. Natsu and Igneel took one look at each other before dashing for the remote and bickering about what to watch.

"I-I just want to say I'm a fan of yours, Lucy." Wendy commented silently so only the blonde could hear but with Natsu's impeccable hearing, his younger sister's words didn't go unnoticed.

"What? Wow, thank you." Lucy said, her voice full of wonder and admiration. "May I ask why, though?"

Natsu took a second to glance at the two to see Wendy nod. "You're just amazing. I think you can do anything."

Lucy's laugh blessed his ears and he suddenly couldn't care about what to watch for tonight anymore so he let his dad have the remote and look for any good shows at Netflix while he pretended to be interested when he was actually eavesdropping.

"Well, that's just because of the support around me, you know." Lucy answered. After a second, Lucy spoke again, probably to elaborate herself. "I mean, take for example running for the Student Body, I _never_ would have been able to do that if your brother wasn't there to encourage me and tell me that I could do it. Another would have been the countless of quiz bees that we won for the school. That was also only possible because of my team mates."

"You mean it wasn't all you?"

"Of course not, Wendy." Lucy laughed, and from the corner of his eyes, Natsu saw Lucy wrap her arms around his younger sister. "It's all because of the people around me. Of course, it's also important for me to believe in myself but their support made all of my accomplishments possible."

"Thank you, Lucy."

"For what?"

"For giving me courage." Wendy answered, her voice so low Natsu had to strain to hear her.

"I didn't give you anything, Wendy." Lucy said, her voice soothing. The tone Lucy usually uses when she talked to Natsu when he's down in the drain, drowning in self misery. "It was inside you all along, you just had to find it. And the way I see it, it's pretty easy to find."

Before Wendy could say anything else, Igneel plopped down beside her, finally choosing some movie for them to watch. Natsu went back to the kitchen to help his mother with the snacks before sitting down beside Lucy.

While they watched, Real Steel, from the looks of it, Natsu wrapped his arms around Lucy. "I heard what you guys were talking about." Natsu said, tightening his hold on Lucy's waist.

"You were eavesdropping again?" Lucy accused, moving to look him in the eye.

Natsu reeled back from her intense gaze. "Unintentionally. You know how good my ears are."

Lucy sighed and smiled, snuggling closer to Natsu and pulling Wendy with her because she had her arms wrapped around the younger Dragneel.

By the time the credits were rolling, Natsu was standing up and offering his hand for Lucy to take but when he looked at his younger sister sleeping peacefully on the blonde's arms, he looked at his dad. Igneel laughed and plucked the younger girl from Lucy's arms to get her to her room.

"We're off, Mr and Mrs Dragneel." Lucy bid her goodbye as she stood up from the couch.

"Grandeeney and Igneel, darling." The older woman reminded her and Lucy laughed, nodding her head. "We're sorry for the misconception earlier, Lucy. I hope we didn't hurt your feelings."

"Oh, no. It was nothing, don't mind it. All's well." Lucy smiled before she was wrapped in a hug by Grandeeney, which she returned.

"Drive safe, Natsu." Grandeeney reminded. "See you soonest, dear." Lucy nodded before turning to the staircase, waiting for Igneel.

When the older man appeared, he wasted no time in wrapping Lucy in an intense hug. Lucy, on the other hand, returned the hug as enthusiastically as she could. "Ya better take good care of her, boy."

" _I'm_ your son, you know." Natsu muttered before opening the door for Lucy. "You make it sound as if it's the other way around."

"Bye for now." Lucy smiled, waving her hands before she got out because of Natsu beckoning her out.

"Natsu, it's getting late. Why don't you just sleep the night over at Lucy's?" Grandeeney suggested. "Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure you've been sleeping over at Lucy's whenever you say you're at Gray's. It makes much more sense that way."

Natsu laughed before tossing Lucy the keys to his car so that she could already get inside instead of waiting outside. "I'll be back in a sec!" Lucy nodded, waving to his parents one last time before she got inside the car.

He turned to his Mom before wrapping her in a hug. "Thanks for accepting her. It means the world to me."

"Accept her? We love her, son." Igneel laughed, smacking his son's back in encouragement.

"You have to take care of her, Natsu." Grandeeney said, holding her son at shoulder's length. "She's one of a kind."

Natsu nodded before getting out. "Wait, aren't you going to bring clothes with you?" Grandeeney shouted as Natsu walked to his car.

"I already got tons stored at Lucy's wardrobe!" Natsu replied, waving his hand and getting inside the car and starting the ignition.

"So _that's_ where his clothes have been disappearing to." Grandeeney realized, waving her hands as Natsu's jeep rolled out of view. "I thought he burned them accidentally."

* * *

"So your mother figured it out?" Lucy laughed, her chest vibrating from the action and with his arms wrapped around her, he could feel every bit of her movement and he wanted nothing more.

"Yeah, I mean that Ice Brain and I fight every time we see each other so maybe she thought about that and realized that it would practically be impossible for us to stay in one room alone for too long, let alone sleep." Natsu said, closing his eyes.

They were lying down on Lucy's bed, their minds clear of any worries for now. They were finally out in the open and his family knew and from the looks of it, Lucy doesn't really care about what the school thought anymore.

"I'm surprised they took the news so well, though." Lucy said, her voice low and peaceful. "I honestly thought it would take us hours to make them understand."

"Yeah, me too." Natsu answered truthfully. "It turns out Mom has just been hinting about me and Lisanna because she thought I liked her and that I just didn't have the courage. It had nothing to do about running the family business, at all."

"So she thought to give you a bit of pep talk to give you courage?" Lucy asked, burying her head in Natsu's bare neck, her lips ghosting over the scar.

"Yep, but the pep talk became too much that I thought she was pushing me to marry the girl." Natsu laughed, his breath hitching as Lucy peppered open-mouthed kisses at his neck.

"When did you ask her about this?" Lucy stopped kissing his neck to ask.

"When I went back to the kitchen to-" Natsu's voice drowned when Lucy started to nibble on the skin between his collar bone and neck, he stayed still for a while, holding back a groan. "When I went back to the kitchen to help her with the snacks.", he repeated.

Lucy hummed beneath him and he could feel all the blood surging towards his lower region. "Luce, stop it. We have school tomorrow. And your parents are home."

"So, what? That never stopped you before." Lucy smirked, her voice sultry and hinting. He turned his attention to Lucy's lips as she talked, her mouth plump and inviting. And so Natsu, who was turned on for the second time that day, knew that she was right.


	17. Chapter 17: ショッピング (Shopping)

**I'm so so so sorry for the really late update! School has just been very hard for me these past few weeks with new projects and extra curricular activities, I found myself frequently dreaming of writing instead of actually doing it. Anyway, I actually wrote this chapter late January but never really got around to posting it because of how fast the days have been flying by.**

 **Also, I'd like to apologize in advance if it takes me another month to update again. I'm a graduating student so there are many stuff to do before I leave the school and I'm actually attending college in Japan so I also have to get ready for that. There are many things to do! I just wish I get to work on my other writings by this year. (My writing notebook's filling up.)**

 **For the meantime, do indulge yourselves in my most recent one shot, _Beyond the Wooden Cubicles!_ It isn't the best but it's something I'm very proud of lol. Enjoy the update and hopefully the one shot too. **

**Secret Love Chapter 17:** **ショッピング (Shopping)**

 **Previously on SL:** _Lucy hummed beneath him and he could feel all the blood surging towards his lower region. "Luce, stop it. We have school tomorrow. And your parents are home."_

 _"So, what? That never stopped you before." Lucy smirked, her voice sultry and hinting. He turned his attention to Lucy's lips as she talked, her mouth plump and inviting. And so Natsu, who was turned on for the second time that day, knew that she was right._

* * *

"Well, well, I'd like to send my sincerest congratulations to you, dear Captain." Lucy jokingly said, nudging Natsu's side with her elbows as they both eyed the banners and tarpaulins that littered the school walls announcing the basketball team's overwhelming victory against Sabertooth Academy during the Regional Basketball Tournament. And through the certain victory, it finally landed Natsu the position for team captain. Through that, Natsu would be playing as team captain for the National's.

Natsu smiled down at Lucy and tightened his hold around her, running his hand up and down her arm to fight the cold. "Could say the same with you, love." Inside the school halls, there were banners congratulating a few students for winning the National Quiz Bee. Among the girls who competed against the whole nation's best were Lucy and Levy.

It had been a month since the five-day educational tour which meant that it had been as long since everybody they knew found out about their two-year hidden relationship. The first few weeks were buzzing with rumors and gossip about the two of them. There had even been one rumor whispering around about how Natsu was actually only dating Lucy for a stupid bet with Gray.

How characteristic for a bunch of hormone-induced high school students.

Of course, Lucy, who had always been such an opportunist, saw the chance and took it. That night she heard about the rumor, as Natsu was climbing her windowsill as normal, she sat on her bed and sulked. Pretending to believe the rumor about his reason for dating her while he panicked and did all he could to change her mind.

When she couldn't take it anymore, she broke out of character and laughed at his desperate face, ensuring him that there was no way she could believe such a ridiculous rumor, saying that it wasn't as if they were starring in some high school cliche drama.

Now, the rumors were dying and people were more concerned about looking for their own dates for the Ball. Everyone grew especially antsy when Natsu approached Lisanna the following Monday, telling her that he will still go to the Ball with her.

 _"No, I will accompany you to the Ball." Natsu said, shaking his head as he voiced out his thoughts to not only reassure Lisanna but also to tell himself that this will be his final decision._

 _"Well, aren't you very good at sounding so romantic." Lisanna dead-panned, crossing her arms in front of her. "You don't have to feel obliged to take me. I can handle myself and I'm sure there are plenty other guys there who are more than willing to take me. I don't think anybody would want to be somebody else's secondary option, after all."_

 _"Come on, I asked you out first!" Natsu exclaimed, teasing the white-haired lady._

 _"You should go with Lucy." Lisanna insisted. "This will be our last year in high school, you know."_

 _"Look Lisanna, I may have ran around the resort that day in hopes of going to the Ball with Lucy but she made me remember that I should have a strong grip on my words. " Natsu said, trying to convince the youngest Strauss to go to the Ball with him. "She made me remember what kind of person I was."_

 _If the situation wasn't serious, he would've laughed at how the tables have turned. The chaser has become the chasee, after all._

 _"I just become so out of it when it comes to her, ya know." Natsu continued, "I was just so desperate to make her ha-"_

 _"Natsu," Lisanna interrupted, raising her index finger to shut him up. "I like you, I really do. And I don't want to hear your feelings about some girl who isn't me. But just so you would shut up, I'll go to the stupid Ball with you."_

 _With that, Lisanna was out of the cafeteria and by the next second, everybody realized that the two most famous people of both sexes were already looking for partners for the Ball that would take place next month. By the next minute, the whole school was buzzing with pent-up frustration, high school students actively looking for dates or already coming up with ideas to ask their dates out._

* * *

By the time school has ended, Lucy saw Natsu waiting for her by the parking lot. It had been a hard few weeks since they had to get used to the fact that they weren't hiding their relationship anymore which meant that Natsu didn't have to drive all the way to the edge of the school grounds to wait for Lucy.

"Hey, how was your day?" Natsu asked as Lucy crushed herself against his arms. They also had to get used to the fact that Natsu _is_ pretty famous and that he _is_ one of the school's 'heart throbs' - no matter how unbelievable that seemed to Lucy, which meant that they always had on-lookers, watching their every display of affection.

"It was great, we just finished a two-hour debate practice." Lucy smiled against his chest, content with feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed and with the steady throbbing of his heart. "How was yours?"

"As always, Coach kept going on and on about how I should do something about the students insisting on joining the team." Natsu disentangled them both and opened the door for her. "It's almost mid-year, you'd think that people would already get the idea that we don't need new members for the line-up."

Lucy laughed and waited for Natsu to get inside the car before replying. "Well, I couldn't really blame them. The school holds the number one record for most wins at National's, and this year's line-up was supposedly the best. That means that if one could include in their future resumes that they were a part of the legendary team, that'd be a great thing, wouldn't it?"

"I guess,"

"I bet you didn't even think that far, haven't you?" Lucy jested.

"Oh, shut up." He grumbled before pulling out of the school's parking lot.

They were driving through the shopping district on their way home, when Lucy spotted a crimson red night gown that reminded her of Erza's blood-red hair being displayed by one of the shops that littered the district. Now that she thought about it, she still doesn't have a dress and that spoke bad news if she delayed it more. The Ball was in two weeks and most of the girls at school already had their own gowns or were already having it done. Some even already booked their make-up artists to make sure they had enough time to get ready.

"It's my turn to plan tomorrow's date, right?" Lucy asked Natsu, placing her left hand against his. Natsu flipped it and intertwined their hands, pulling her hand to his lips and giving it a small peck.

"Yep, what do you want to do? Do you have anything particular in mind?"

"Not really, but could you come with me for dress shopping tomorrow?" Lucy asked him, not doubting the fact that Natsu would go with her but also not very confident about Natsu's odd sense of fashion.

"Sure, where do you wanna go?"

"Magnolia Central's shopping district." Lucy answered.

* * *

"We're not in Magnolia anymore, Natsu." Lucy complained, eyeing the sign that said _Thank You for Visiting Magnolia, Come Again Soon_ with confusion. She had specifically asked that they go to Central for dress shopping because there were better bargains there, and it was nearer.

There was no reason to go somewhere so far when there's a place with better prices near them.

"Magnolia Central's shopping district doesn't have anything for sale, Luce." Natsu said, picking his phone up from the dashboard and typing something. "All the dresses there are for rent and I'm pretty sure there's a possibility you'll end up in a dress with the same design as someone else's. I don't think anyone's going to be happy with that."

Lucy rolled her eyes at Natsu and turned to the window to admire the shift of scenery. From monochromatic buildings, lush green bushes and strong tree trunks appeared before them as they drove farther away from the city.

"I don't care if anyone's going to have the same dress as me. Besides, it's just a one-night thing. A rental dress should do just fine."

Lucy heard a bark of laughter in response. She turned to glare at Natsu but he was focusing on the road before him and on his phone that was guiding them. "Don't lie to me, Lucy. I know you don't want to have a dress with the same design as others. Who do you think you're trying to convince?"

She sighed, deciding to let go of her sudden gush of anger. Natsu wasn't wrong. She _does_ care. She wants to wear a dress that would look good on her and her alone. And she wasn't very open to the idea of wearing a gown that had been worn by so many women before. She wanted a dress that she could proudly say was hers and share memories with it that only her could have.

She was selfish like that.

"Fine," Lucy said, defeated. She knew that there wasn't any changing Natsu's mind when he was being like this and no matter how much she wanted a rental gown, if he wanted her wearing one that she had bought, she had no say in the matter.

Unless she was open to the idea of snapping and getting in a full blown argument with him, which was something that she doesn't have the energy to do.

"I don't have that much money though, so we'll have to look for something cheap." Lucy said, trying to pry her hand away from Natsu to no avail.

"Then I'll pay for however much you need." Natsu decided, tightening his grip on Lucy's hand. "I've been working, you know? Where do you think I've been most afternoons after I take you home?"

This was the first she had heard about it. Curious, she pried further. "Since when? What kind of work is it?"

"Since I told my folks about us. Dad wanted me to work so I could take you on better dates, or something like that. He let me in the business, saying it would also do me well to start early and get to know how everything works."

Lucy nodded her head, "I don't want you to waste it all on me, though."

"Waste?" Natsu asked, taking a second away from the road to sneak a glance at her. "If I'm spending my hard earned money on you, it's nowhere near wasting. Besides, I'm spending it all on you in the future anyway. What, with the wedding and all."

Lucy's eyes widened at the casualty of Natsu's words. He made it seem like the future was decided for the two of them, and that they would be together until the end of time. And Lucy thought maybe he did.

And maybe she did too.

She decided not to comment on it and unbuckled her seat belt, eyeing the shopping district of Amaryllis which was mostly famous for its renowned designers. Lucy shook her head and opened the car door to go down and start looking for dresses.

"We drove two hours for Amaryllis?" Lucy glared at Natsu who was handing her her handbag. "The dresses here are all expensive Natsu, didn't I tell you I don't have that big of a budget for this?"

"And _I_ told you that we don't need to stay within your budget because I have money." Natsu bit back, running out of patience.

They went around the district, to Natsu's chagrin, because Lucy wanted to look at _all_ the boutiques, saying that since they were already here after all, they might as well explore the entirety of it. Natsu on the other hand, wanted to visit one shop alone, sure that Lucy would find her dress there.

When she got tired of Natsu complaining, she decided to follow him to the shop and buy her dress there and explore later, without an impatient Natsu hot on her tail.

They were nearing the most expensive dress shop of Amaryllis, Mermaid Heel, and Lucy was getting scared. She didn't want to buy a dress there. They were too overpriced yet at the same time, Lucy hoped Natsu would drag her there just so she could see what the fuss was all about with the company's clothing.

Natsu stopped in front of the one shop Lucy wanted to visit but not buy from and she shivered. Her wallet is going to die today.

"Natsu, you can't be serious, right?"

"Why not? Mom's friends with the owner and I heard this is their main branch so I'm sure the owner's daughter is here. She might be open to the idea of altering your dress for you herself. I've read she's the best."

Lucy sighed, there was no defeating the guy.

When Natsu opened the glass doors, Lucy decided it best to just follow and act like she didn't find anything she fancied, get out, drive back home, and rent a gown.

"Natsu, is that you?" A raven-haired lady who looked about Erza's age greeted them. She was wearing a white dress shirt tucked into a blue pencil skirt, a tape measure hanging off her neck.

"Minerva! Haven't seen you in a while." Natsu greeted back before letting go of Lucy's hand to give the girl a warm hug. "This is my girlfriend, Lucy. Lucy, this is Minerva, her mother's the owner of Mermaid Heel."

"So you're the girl our little Natsu has been seeing behind his family's back." Minerva teased before offering her hand to shake Lucy's. "Well, what can I do for you lovebirds?"

"She's looking for a gown." Natsu answered for her, going back to her side and wrapping his arms around her. "Could you show us anything you think she'd like?"

"Oh, no, I don't need help." Lucy quickly said, waving her hands in front of her. "I'll just go look around by myself."

"Nonsense, girl." Minerva gasped, clearly shocked that someone would decline help within a shop that was filled with clothes. "Now, do tell. Any specific preferences?"

Lucy sighed, she eyed the shop and almost gasped at how wide it actually was. Unlike the many boutiques they've been in, Mermaid Heel was five times its sizes. One side had all kinds of ball gowns while another had one with long evening gowns. The opposite side was filled with tuxedos of all sizes and colors.

She gulped, maybe accepting help would be best.

"Well I was thinking I would like something that wouldn't really stick to my body that much?" Lucy said, hesitant with how specific she should be. Minerva, on the other hand, smiled at her and nodded, urging her to continue. "And perhaps something light-colored? I'm not very fond of dark colors. Oh, and the school encourages night gowns so nothing too fluffy, maybe?"

"Great. Why don't we take a look around?" Minerva asked, her hands motioning to the night gowns.

Lucy nodded and followed Minerva. Minutes passed with her just following around Minerva, nodding her head with each option that the apparently older lady handed that appealed to her and politely declining dresses that were too much or too little.

"How about this one?" Minerva offered. In her hand was a cream colored night gown with sequence littering the torso and a plain cream skirt that ended at her ankles. It was held together by a thin strap.

"I like it, but I'm not very sure with the color." Lucy smiled, feeling a bit more comfortable to voice out her opinions. If Minerva noticed this, she didn't say anything. Probably in fear that her comment would make Lucy grow uneasy again.

"Hmm, I see."

"I found a pink one, how do you like it?" Minerva showed her a direct maxi dress that had lace decorating the upper and sleeves part.

Lucy smiled and nodded. She reached for it and asked to try the first dress she had liked. Minerva directed her to the fitting rooms and assisted her in wearing the gown.

It fitted her but it needed some altering by the sleeves. Minerva asked her for her input about the dress. "I'm not very open to the idea of alteration, so no."

Minerva nodded again and went out, telling Lucy to stay inside while she went around the shop for a dress.

The next hour, Lucy had tried different colors and designs and one dress in particular made up her mind against body con dresses. Now usually, she didn't mind dresses that clung to her figure. Hell, she lived for them. But for hundreds of hormonal teenagers to see? She didn't think Natsu would very happy with that, though he never really voiced out his opinions about the matter either.

She was now wearing a dark blue two-piece gown with a mermaid cut and laces that decorated the whole piece. "I think salmon pink's the way to go, Minerva." Lucy said, toying with the lace by the shoulders of the dress.

Minerva nodded and went out of the dressing room again. Lucy took the time alone to get out of the stuffy dress and wait for Minerva.

She sighed and looked around the wide dressing room. There were two dresses hanging against the wall; a multi-colored low hanging neck line with an A-line skirt that ended at her ankles and a magenta waterfall maxi dress with off-the-shoulder straps. Those were the two that Natsu had liked on her best and while she wasn't a big fan of the waterfall dress, the multi-colored maxi one spoke to her.

Maybe that was the one.

Minerva popped her head in and smiled. "I think you'll like this one." She proceeded to handing Lucy a salmon-pink dress.

Looking at it, the dress didn't capture her attention. She shrug the hesitance off and stepped inside the dress, calling for Minerva to help her close the zipper.

She stared at her reflection and her eyes widened. _Now this is_ the _dress,_ Lucy thought to herself while tracing her hips against the dress. It had a low-hanging neck that ended at her mid-chest and an open back. Shimmering pink and gold glitter littered the lower part of the dress while roses scattered the entirety of the piece.

"Wow," Lucy sighed. She ran her hands against the outlines of the straps as her eyes stared at the roses that strangely reminded her of Natsu. She smiled at the sight of the shimmering specks of pink and gold that reminded her of the stars that lit up the night sky. "This is beautiful, Minerva."

"So, do you like it?" A voice that sounded a bit too deep to be Minerva's spoke and Lucy whirled around to look at Natsu.

She nodded, not trusting her voice to express her love for the dress.

"He chose it, Lucy." Minerva said, eyeing Lucy and throwing her thumb up in appreciation.

"Really?"

"Yep," Natsu declared, clearly proud that Lucy liked his choice. "I saw it and thought that the dress was so perfect that it might have been made just for you."

"Okay, now you're just bluffing." Lucy laughed and asked Minerva for the price, eager to get the task done.

Luckily, the dress was not very far away from her price range which was 20,000 J which meant that Natsu didn't have to put out as much money as they had thought.

Natsu took the dress and money from Lucy to pay for the dress when she grabbed a hold of his elbows. "We're not done yet."

His eyes widened in clear horror, his mouth dropping in disbelief. "What else do you freaking need?"

"I don't need anything, silly." Lucy laughed and handed the dress to an assistant of Minerva's for secure keeping. "You do, though. You don't have a tux yet."

"What? It's still too early for that, Luce." Natsu laughed, grabbing her hand that was holding his elbow and intertwining it with his. "Now let's go pay."

"No! We're already here and all, might as well get yours now."

"Come on, the Ball is still about two weeks away. Relax." Natsu groaned, tugging Lucy to the direction of the cashier.

"Yeah? Well countless of Balls will be held within the next few weeks. I don't think you're very open to the idea of choosing out of people's leftovers." Lucy said, choosing her words carefully to purposely provoke him.

Natsu let her words sink in before bellowing out a roar and dragging her towards the Men's section of the store. Lucy turned to the woman who was holding her dress and held up her hand with a smile. The lady nodded and smiled, telling her that she will just bag the dress in advance.

"Now, have you and Lisanna decided on a color scheme or are you both just winging it?" Lucy asked, browsing over the tuxedos.

"Not really, no." Natsu shook his head, looking over the selection. "Why don't you decide?"

"What, no!" Lucy exclaimed, startled that Natsu would ask him of such. The man in question, in turn, stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "I mean, what if Lisanna doesn't like it? I don't think that's a good idea."

"Well, _I_ don't exactly give a hoot about what she thinks." Natsu laughed, approaching Lucy and wrapping her in his arms. "The mini-Ball that we're exclusively having together at home is much, much more important to me than any big-ass Ball ever could. If 'matching' means so much to you, then let's match clothes with each other."

"But Sting," Lucy started.

"Wouldn't care. He's been pining after this girl Yukino for months now. He's just going to the Ball with you because you kinda scared him that night."

Lucy smiled at the image of Sting, flabbergasted with the turn of events. Before she could speak, Minerva beat her to it. "All right, lovebirds. Get to choosing."

Natsu laughed and let go of Lucy. He grabbed a salmon-pink dress shirt, the same shade as Lucy's, before going through the tuxedos and plucking a navy blue suit with accompanying vest and handing it to Minerva. "The usual size. I haven't grown an inch."

Minerva laughs, nodding. "That just sounds sad." She proceeded to the check-out station, punched in the items, and went to the back of the store.

"Hey, I had my last sizing just last week, you know!" Natsu shouted in defense.

"You frequent here?" Lucy asked as she was being guided by Natsu to the ties.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you that mom's a friend of Minerva's mom?" They both stopped in front of the wooden table with a glass top. "Now, why don't you choose my tie?"

Lucy smiled and pointed to a navy blue one with white dots. The lady behind the table smiled at them both before sliding the wood open and taking the tie with her to the check out.

When they were done with paying, Minerva popped out from the back to bid them goodbye. She told them to be back by next week to pick up Natsu's suit before disappearing again, probably to start working on Natsu's tux.

"So our Saturdate turned out to be a shopping-for-the-Winter-Ball day, huh?" Natsu jested as he placed Lucy's gown in the back seat of his car. He went inside and turned the ignition on.

"Yeah. It was fun though, wasn't it?" Lucy smiled, rolled down the window to cling to the fresh air of countryside for a little more. "I still can't believe you were childhood friends with Minerva, though."

"Yeah, we all were."

"We, meaning who, exactly?"

"Well, me, Gray, Erza, Minerva, and her little cousin, Kagura." Natsu answered.

"Whoa, I knew you were childhood friends with Gray but being long-time friends with Erza and Minerva's news to me."

"Now you know, I guess." Natsu said, his voice drifting away.

Lucy studied him in confusion. He was a blast just a while ago, now he was sulking as if he didn't get to buy his favorite toy from the store. Natsu's eyes focused on the road and both his hands were stiff against the steering wheel and he didn't even bother to turn the radio on.

Something was bothering him, Lucy was sure of it.

"What's wrong?"

Natsu snapped out of his daze and looked at Lucy for a brief second before turning his attention back to the road in front of him. "Nothing."

"Come on, tell me." Lucy urged, hating the way Natsu was keeping things from her. In contrary to what people thought, Natsu wasn't as much of an open book as her. He was harder to read than most and was definitely one of the most impulsive people she knew. He wasn't a big fan of wearing his heart out on his sleeve, either.

"It's just, I realized that you're gonna be wearing a dress that we bought for another guy who isn't me." Natsu sighed. "I don't think I'm okay with that, and I'm sorry for sounding so controlling."

Lucy smiled and took one of Natsu's hand from the wheel to wrap it in both of hers as a way to comfort him. "Natsu, listen, everything that I wear will either be to make me happy with myself and to make me feel secure about how I look or to impress and hopefully make your jaw fall to the floor." Lucy said, littering his hand in kisses. "There's no in-between. Not now, not ever."

"You don't need to be so cautious of your clothes though, you look hella fine in everything." Natsu muttered, turning to her. His eyes lingered on her face before landing on her lips for longer than a second. "Well, for whom will you be wearing the gown, then?"

Lucy took a second to think before smirking. "The gown would be for me," She disentangled one of her hands from Natsu's and traced his arm before continuing. "Everything underneath will all be for _you._ "


	18. Chapter 18: 冬のフォーマル (Winter Formal)

**I AM ALIVE! I'm sorry for the delayed update but I think you guys already know my schedule by now, one chapter per month but if we're lucky, two! Anyway, I have the perfect excuse this time around. I am actually leaving for Japan by the end of the month so I'm very busy with preparations and dealing with unfinished school business. Maybe by the next update, I'm already in Japan!**

 **I'm currently working on two stories at the same time and starting a one shot so I would like everybody's understanding if I'm very slow on the updates. I'm planning on finishing the other story before publishing it so it could get a regular update schedule instead of something like this. Anyway, enjoy the long awaited chapter!**

 **Secret Love Chapter 18: 冬のフォーマル (Winter Formal)**

 **Previously on SL:** _"You don't need to be so cautious of your clothes though, you look hella fine in everything." Natsu muttered, turning to her. His eyes lingered on her face before landing on her lips for longer than a second. "Well, for whom will you be wearing the gown, then?"_

 _Lucy took a second to think before smirking. "The gown would be for me," She disentangled one of her hands from Natsu's and traced his arm before continuing. "Everything underneath will all be for you."_

* * *

"Where are we going?" Lucy yawned, resting her head against the window of Natsu's car. It was still 6 in the morning when Natsu came barging in Lucy's bedroom, demanding that she wake up so they could go before it's late.

"Amaryllis."

Lucy shot up in her seat, any remnants of sleep flying away with the wind. "What?!"

"Amaryllis." Natsu dead-panned, his attention focused on the road before him. "We gotta pick up my suit."

"Natsu, I need to get ready!" Lucy complained. "It's a two-hour ride from Magnolia and the ball's at 6 PM!"

"Yeah, and it's still 8 AM, you've got time." Natsu said, "Besides, we're almost there. You've fallen asleep for most of the ride."

Lucy grumbled, knowing there's no going back now.

By the time the car pulled to a stop in front of Mermaid Heel, Lucy didn't accompany Natsu outside, too embarrassed with how she currently looked. Natsu handed Lucy his suit, hanging by a hanger with a plastic protecting it from outside dangers.

The drive back to Magnolia was silent, Lucy still too sleepy to initiate a conversation with him. However, one thing was bothering her that she just had to ask despite her lack of sleep. "Why didn't you pick up your suit beforehand?"

Natsu shrug his shoulders before replying, "Forgot about it."

He saw Lucy roll her eyes at his answer before turning to the window to stare at the greenery that passed by them as they drove.

When they got back to her house, Lucy was quick to her room to take a bath before preparing for the ball. Natsu, on the other hand, stayed behind at the living room to watch the recap of yesterday's football game with Jude.

"Aren't you going to get ready, Natsu?" A sweet voice that reminded Natsu of Lucy asked. He turned to see Layla coming down the stairs wearing formal business clothing, a book bag on her left hand while her right was wrapped around a set of keys.

"Nah, it's still too early." Natsu replied, giving Layla a crooked grin. "I didn't know you have work today."

"Tomorrow's my only day off work, Natsu." Layla laughed, patting his head before giving her husband a peck on both cheeks. "I'll try my best to be home before you guys are off to school."

Natsu nodded his head and turned his attention back to the television. He heard the garage door open outside before closing again, signalling that Layla had already gone.

"Are you getting ready here?" Jude asked him, his eyes set on the game before him.

"Yeah, I don't see the reason why I should get ready at home when I could just have Lucy help me with my hair."

Jude nodded his head at him. "I see, that _is_ far more convenient. Are you driving her to school as well?"

"No, I'm driving with my partner." Natsu grumbled, still not fully used to the fact of another girl besides Lucy, Wendy, or his Mom will be inside the car with him.

"Oh, yes, right."

"Natsu! Can you come help me?" Lucy's voice erupted within the house.

Natsu and Jude, whose attention was neck-deep on the game that was playing before them, jumped in surprise upon hearing her voice.

"Y-yeah, Luce!" Natsu answered before shooting up in his seat to run to Lucy's bedroom.

When he got there, Lucy was wearing nothing but a white towel. Natsu gulped, knowing that he shouldn't think of such lewd thoughts when Jude was just downstairs. "What can I help you with?"

"Which eye shadow would look good with my dress?" Lucy proceeded to showing him a black palette that held various of shades, from black to white.

Natsu approached her to take a good look at the palette before pointing to a circular color that resembled both Lucy's night gown and his hair. "How about this one?"

"I knew it! Thanks!" Lucy said, shooing Natsu away with a flick of her wrist.

Natsu, who has lost interest in the replay of some football game when he caught sight of Lucy, sat down on her bed to stare at her while she got ready. He looked at her as she applied the salmon pink dust on her eye lids. She then proceeded to dabbing some nude colored something to her face, then to her neck, and blending it together.

As he looked at Lucy covering her beauty with makeup, he couldn't help but wonder how it would taste on his tongue. He wondered if the lipstick that Lucy was applying to her face was one of those cherry-flavored ones that drove him crazy.

When she was done, it was already almost one in the afternoon but Natsu couldn't help but think that time just seemed to have flown by as he watched her get ready.

Lucy turned to him, her lipstick-covered lips twisting to a wide grin. "How do I look?"

Natsu blinked, surprised at Lucy's question. Did she have to ask? Didn't she see how drop-dead gorgeous she looked? Natsu racked his brain for any words that would justify Lucy's beauty at the moment. When he took too much time, Lucy raised her filled eyebrows at him.

"Y-you, uh, okay, I guess." Natsu internally face-palmed. Okay? She looked okay? She looked _beyond_ okay. She looked like a fucking _goddess_. But of course his dumb brain didn't have enough wires to connect it with his mouth. He considered re-wording his intentions but before he could, Lucy's voice snapped him out of his internal debate, telling him that she understood him.

"Thanks, Natsu!" Lucy's smile widened at his words. She stood up and opened her closet to get her night gown out. Natsu stared at her hips that swayed at every step she took and at her hair that danced in rhythm with her movements.

She was about to go inside the bathroom when Natsu's voice stopped her in her tracks. "Where are you going?" He was meant to voice out his question but when it escaped his mouth, even he couldn't deny the lust that was just leaking out from his words.

Lucy turned to him with a nervous smile, "To the bathroom? I have to change."

"I know." Natsu answered, his voice too deep even for him. "Get changed here. What's the big deal?"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Natsu." Lucy laughed, her eyes traveling from his pair of green orbs, to his lips, and to the tent that was clearly making itself known in his pants, making his trousers a bit tighter than it originally was.

"Why? I've seen you naked countless of times before."

"The bulge in your pants is why, Natsu." Lucy laughed, pointing to his pants.

"Ignore it then."

Lucy sighed, Natsu stared as her eyes flashed with the familiar twinkle that precluded her giving up the argument. She closed the curtains behind her and turned around to face away from him. Her hands raised from her side to clasp around the towel that covered her body. She unfurled the twist of knots that helped it remain in place before hanging it on rack by her closet.

Natsu felt his pants strain further at the sight of her backside. The one that he had pounded against time and time again. His eyes feasted on the dimples on her back that he had mindlessly traced every single time they lay on her bed.

He fought not to move from his rather uncomfortable position from her bed to move his calloused hands against her shoulder blades that moved from her every push against the bed to keep herself upright while her head lie defeated on the pillows on her bed as Natsu groaned out her name.

Lucy bent over to slip her curvaceous body on the very thing that Natsu himself had picked. At the time, he was beyond proud that Lucy had liked the material that he had chosen but this time, his desire to punch himself in the face for picking out a dress that showed so much of her beauty was not making the situation any easier.

He was torn, unable to decide between showing her off for everybody to see or to keep her inside a glass cabinet for him and him alone to admire day after day, hour after hour, minute by minute, and second after second.

He was torn and doesn't she know it.

She stood upright and glanced at Natsu from her shoulders, half-lidded eyes not helping the bulge in his pants the slightest.

"Zip me up?" Lucy asked, her voice sultry as she spoke.

Natsu's adam's apple bobbed in his throat. This woman was going to be the death of him.

He nodded before leaving the safety of her bed to approach her. He traced the line of her spine with his pointer finger, feeling pride swell on his chest when he felt her breath hitch. His finger reached the end of the line and took the silver zipper to draw her gown together before he completely loses control.

From the distance, he heard Lucy thank him and he could only nod, finding it hard to even come up with coherent words.

"Now," Lucy turned around to face him, her smile wide and her face empty with any trace of lust. "Let's do you!"

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Natsu smirked, grabbing Lucy's waist to draw her closer to him. She gasped, feeling the very bulge that she had been eyeing for a few minutes now rub against her. Natsu heard her moan before he felt her hand in his shoulders.

"No, Natsu!" Lucy grumbled, her eyes scrutinized in judgement while her arms crossed across her chest. "We have to hurry up."

Her direct denial of any sexual interaction with him went through his brain and he felt his dick calm down. Lucy sighed when she could no longer feel his excitement trying to rub against her.

Lucy ordered him to get dressed while she heated the straightener for his hair. Once he was done, he sat down in front of Lucy's vanity mirror. He tried to stay still for her, despite it not being in his nature, just so she wouldn't have a hard time trying to tame his messy hair.

He watched Lucy's face twist in concentration while she pressed the flat iron against his hair and pulling it back. When she was done, only a strand of hair remained drooping from his head which was according to Lucy, was for pure style, while the rest of his pink locks were pulled back for a neater look.

Lucy sprayed her setting spray on Natsu's hair before moving to open a lip balm. "Whoa, you're putting that on me?"

"Yeah, why?" Lucy asked. "Don't tell me you don't want it because it's girly?"

"No!" Natsu hurriedly denied, knowing that that would be a trigger subject for his girlfriend. "No, I just don't feel comfortable wearing it."

"Your lips are chapped." Lucy dead-panned before applying it on Natsu's dried up lips.

"Just kiss me, then."

He heard Lucy laugh before he was being shooed away from her mirror. "I don't want to because my lipstick will get smudged."

Natsu sighed, opting to instead check on his watch for the time to see that it was already quarter to four. Did they really take that much time getting ready?

The doorbell rung, echoing against the walls of the house.

"Natsu, can you open the door?" Layla's voice boomed from the kitchen. When did she come home?

"Sure!"

Natsu ran downstairs to open the door, expecting to see a mailman of some sort only to see blonde-locks that looked so much like Lucy's greet him.

Sting was standing in front of his face, his ugly mug in poker mode. He was wearing a faded yellow turtleneck that complimented his hair well, a black tie and a black tuxedo to complete the look. His crystal ear ring still dangling from his ears.

"Can I come in?" Sting asked, peeking inside to probably catch a glimpse of Lucy.

Natsu opened the door wider to let the man in. He was about to introduce Sting to Lucy's mom when she beat him to it.

"Sting!" Layla exclaimed, her hair pulled into a bun while an apron was tied around her neck. "It's been so long!"

"Aunt Layla!" Sting greeted back, his grin widening at the sight of the lady. "I'm sorry I couldn't come by sooner."

"Oh, it's okay. I know it must have been hard to familiarize yourself with the town again." Layla smiled, offering Sting to sit down on one of the stools by the kitchen island. "Make yourself comfortable, the pasta I'm making is about to be done."

Sting nodded before sitting down. Natsu followed and sat one seat apart from the yellow-haired man. "Where's Uncle Jude, Auntie?"

"Oh, he's fixing that old beat up car of his. He wants Lucy to use it." Layla answered, placing the pasta on a Pyrex glass before placing the sauce on top of it. "So, I heard you played a prank on my Lucy to get Natsu to confess?"

Natsu felt warmth creep through his neck and up his cheeks. He was about to answer for the both of them when Lucy's voice interrupted him.

"Stop interrogating them, Mom." Lucy laughed. Natsu turned around to see her descending to stairs, her silver heels on her right hand while his tie was on the other. "Hey, Sting."

Right, he completely forgot about his tie.

Lucy placed her shoes on the living room before making her way to the kitchen. She wrapped the tie around Natsu's neck before tying it around to secure it. Her proximity despite Sting being there made his chest warming with pride.

"Why's he here so early?" Natsu muttered, aware that Sting and Layla could hear them but not having enough fucks to care.

"They wanted to see him after so long and I kinda forgot about telling them that he's back in town." Lucy laughed, adjusting Natsu's tie to make sure it looks perfect.

Natsu nodded, remembering the past that the two had shared.

"Now, would you be so kind so as to help me with my hair?" Lucy asked.

"Sure." He said. They both went back to her room where he helped her hold portions of her hair up while she curled them.

By the time they were done, Jude's constant cluttering at the garage had stopped. They both went back down to find Sting enjoying the company of Lucy's family, talking about what his parents have been up to back in Alvarez during the time that they hadn't seen each other.

"Sting, let's go?" Lucy inquired. The man nodded and they all bid their goodbyes, Sting falling behind as he was taking longer.

Natsu and Lucy were the first ones out of the house, though not without being forced into a picture by a very incessant Layla Heartfilia. "It's still pretty early, are you sure you guys are already heading off?"

Lucy nodded her head. They approached Sting's Juke and stood there to wait for him. "We still have to drive all the way to the other side of town to pick up the sashes for the competition and maybe grab a few bites."

Natsu sighed and tucked in a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you sure you can't just ride with me?"

"I'm sure." Lucy laughed. They both turned to see Sting approaching them with the keys on his left hand.

"You know, I'm happy that we're out in the open and all but I just can't help but think that things could have gone way better if I just waited." Natsu sighed, rubbing his hand against Lucy's exposed shoulder. "Instead, I was hasty and asked Lisanna out in a whim."

"It's fine, Natsu." Lucy smiled, her eyes kind and filled with understanding. "Besides, we've got a mini ball to plan later, right?"

Natsu couldn't help but smile, the warmth in her eyes contagious.

"Ready?" Sting asked Lucy, waving the keys on his hand on the air.

Lucy nodded and gave Natsu a peck. She waited for Sting to open the door of the car before going inside, the tinted windows disabling Natsu a single glance.

He sighed before walking to his own car to go home before picking Lisanna up. He still had a good few hours before he needed to drive by her house.

Deciding to use his time for the better, Natsu drove by the mall to buy the stuff they'll need for their private mini-ball later tonight. He first went by to pick up the flowers he had ready a week before and ordered food for delivery before mindlessly walking around.

The whole mall was decorated with festive decorations and the word _December_ echoed in his mind again and again. Now that he thought about it, they only had about six months of school together before they all went their separate ways. Before that day, he had always been so sure of Lucy's presence in his life but as he looked at the Christmas-y decorations, reminding him of how academically accomplished Lucy was, he wasn't so sure anymore.

She had always been future-oriented and found joy in looking at the possibilities of tomorrow. And although he did love envisioning the future, the ones he looked forward to were more moments to treasure with friends while Lucy longed for the opportunities for success. Heck, she already even had a school in mind.

But him? Oh, school was the farthest thing from his concerns during the past few months. Looking at their old seniors who have lost relationships to distance and lack of communication reminded Natsu of how him and Lucy could end up and it scared him.

Natsu sighed, not seeing the value in getting so anxious of how the future may badly turn up when Lucy was right there with him at the moment. He pulled himself back to his surroundings, looking around the jewelry store that he had somehow ended in and that's when it caught his eye.

He had never been an insecure person nor was he the kind of guy that needed confirmation every single moment. But being reminded of how limited his carefree time with Lucy was made him long for a confirmation and maybe a physical material was exactly what he needed.

Approaching the glass case full of expensive looking jewelry, Natsu pointed to a necklace that had a fire pendant hanging from it. Right at the very center of the golden fire was a small red opal stone.

"You've got good taste, dear sir." The man behind the glass case told him. "This just arrived today, it's called Dragon's Breath."

* * *

Natsu drove back to the Heartfilia's to drop off flowers he had to set up at the dinner table and to let Lucy's parents know that they needed the living room to themselves. Pulling the car to a stop, Natsu saw Jude's car back out from the garage. Natsu honked his horn to let Jude know he was here.

The windows by the passenger side rolled down and Natsu got out of his car to jog to Layla's side. "Where are you guys going?"

"Didn't Lucy tell you?" Layla asked, fishing her bag for something. "We're going to be off town this weekend as well. The branch by the West has been failing and we're trying to either pick it back up or turn it to ashes."

Natsu accepted the keys Layla handed him and pocketed them. "Has this been going on for long now?"

"Yes, actually. I'm surprised Lucy hasn't told you yet." Layla answered. "We've been out of town every weekend for the past year now."

"Anyway, we've got to be off, kid." Jude butted in. "Just do your business inside and don't be late to the dance."

Natsu nodded his head before waving goodbye to the couple as they drove away. Shaking his head, he wondered why Lucy had kept something so serious from him for such a long time now. Though now wasn't exactly the best time for contemplation.

He only had about thirty minutes before the dance starts and Lisanna has been texting him nonstop to ask him where the heck he was. He hurriedly ran inside the house and dumped the carnations to a glass vase before placing it at the already decorated table. Huh, so Layla did know that they were having a dinner date tonight.

Flipping his phone out, he hurriedly sent out a reply to Lisanna telling her that he was on the way. When he arrived at her house, she looked like she wanted to strangle his perfectly tamed hair with her tomb-shaped nails which made him apologize profusely for losing track of time.

When they arrived at the venue, the gymnasium was already packed to the brim with sweaty, hormonal teenagers. The air was heavy with the musk of the men's deodorant and the women's perfume that made Natsu's sensitive nose twitch in protest.

The whole gymnasium was lit up in various colors by lights that changed colors in sync with the music blasting from the speakers. Slow, romantic music was being played by the moment they familiarized themselves with the place.

"Now, dance to the beat of your hearts with the partners that you came with!" Max, a friend of theirs shouted from the stage.

"I guess we should go as well?" Natsu inquired Lisanna, her silver gown glittering beautifully from the lights and perfectly complimenting the color of her hair.

"Sure."

Natsu placed his right on Lisanna's mid-back while his left hand was held out for her to take. Their proximity was something that Natsu wouldn't really want to share with another person aside from Lucy but seeing as this was only a harmless dance made him decide it was okay.

Everybody swayed with the rhythm of the music. Natsu observed the others, seeing how far he and Lisanna actually were compared to the others who were wrapping their arms around each other and whispering sweet nothings to each other's ears. He tried his best to locate his friends and saw Levy being carried off by a grumpy looking Gajeel to the exit and Gray on his dress shirt and pants with Juvia on his arms as they both talked and smiled at each other.

Looking around, Natsu longed to dance with Lucy as well and admire her beauty from such a close space (something that he never really gets tired of). By the time the song ended, Natsu waited for Lisanna to be with her friends before he went off to look for his.

"Are you okay by yourself?" Natsu asked her before leaving.

"Yeah, have the rest of the night with yourself." Lisanna smiled, fiddling with the corsage Natsu gave her before turning away to talk with her newfound friend whom Natsu heard was a friend of Laxus named Bickslow.

Natsu nodded and looked around the gymnasium for any sign of his friends. He saw them huddled together at a table talking animatedly. Lucy was sitting between Sting and an empty chair while she nodded at something Erza had said.

"Would you care for a dance?" Natsu offered, handing out his hand for Lucy to take. She looked up, unfazed by his sudden appearance before looking at Sting and whispering something and smirking. She took his hand and laced their fingers together while he led them to the dance floor. He wrapped both his hands around her waist, pulling her in closer. Lucy snaked her hands to Natsu's neck where she played with the ends of his hair before pulling him closer and bumping their foreheads together.

"I missed you." Lucy said before clashing their lips together making Natsu gasp in surprise. Damn, he thought he couldn't get anymore attracted to Lucy and here she was, making him fall for her again with just a kiss in front of a crowd. Natsu felt warmth spread from his cheeks to his stomach from the action and inevitably, his excitement made itself known. Something that Lucy made fun off as she pressed their hips closer. "Oops, I guess I got you all excited."

"Y-yeah, well you've always been so against public affection." Natsu sighed, biting his lip in desperation to feel more of Lucy's.

"I'm feeling adventurous at the moment." Lucy sultry said, her left hand leaving his neck and tracing the front of his suit before unbuttoning it. "What do you say we ditch this party and head home?"

Natsu laughed, forcing himself to think straight for the both of them. Was she drunk? "We can't, Lucy. You guys are the event organizers, you don't have the option to ditch."

Lucy groaned before letting her head fall to his chest. "I've been waiting for you for so long. What were you doing?"

Yep, she definitely was. And it must have been the work of two she-devils named Cana and Mira. "I just went back to your house to drop off the flowers for later tonight." Natsu replied.

"Oh,"

"Yeah, and I saw your parents leave. They said they've been staying out of town every weekend. Why didn't you tell me that?"

"I did, you weren't listening because we were watching _How to Train your Dragon."_ Lucy laughed, mindlessly playing with the strands of Natsu's hair.

Natsu laughed along with her before remembering Lucy's action before she took his hand. "What did you tell Eucliffe?"

Lucy looked at him, confusion in her face before it warped into understanding. "Remember that girl he likes? Yukino? Well I told him I'm helping him with Creative Writing if he gets to take her home tonight."

Natsu's eyebrow raised in amusement before he dipped his head down to kiss her again. "Well I hope he doesn't because if you help him that means I'll lose more Lucy time and I'm already losing enough private Lucy time. It's getting annoying."

Lucy shook her head and dragged him back to the table just in time for the song to end. The chairs on either side of Lucy was unoccupied so Natsu decided to sit by the chair that Sting was sitting on moments prior.

"Who was seating there?" Natsu asked, pointing to the empty chair on Lucy's other side.

"Levy. Last I saw her, she was with Gajeel." Lucy smirked before motioning for Natsu to come closer so she could whisper something in his ear. "Probably fucking somewhere."

Natsu pulled away with a wicked grin before it turned to a smirk. "Wanna do that too?"

Lucy laughed at him, handing him a plate full of chili con carne. "You were the one who just said that I'm not allowed to ditch this event. Keep your pants on."

Natsu started eating the food Lucy gave him and was well on his second plate when the guy on Lucy's Calculus class came to ask her to a dance to which she happily accepted. He stood up, deciding to eat while Lucy started to kill her feet with all her dancing. By the time he got away from the buffet table, Lucy was massaging the heel of her right foot with a pained expression.

"Too much dancing?" Natsu laughed, hauling Lucy's feet to rest in on his thighs to massage them for her. "I thought you were a nerd?"

"Ugh, I hope everybody stops asking me out to dance for even a minute." Lucy grumbled, letting her head hang from her neck in exhaustion. "My feet are killing me!"

Natsu finished massaging the heel of Lucy's foot and was about to move on to the ball's of her right foot when a light tap stopped him. "W-wanna dance with me?"

He looked up to see a brown haired girl wearing a black body-con dress. "Sorry, kinda busy at the moment."

"O-oh, then maybe later, perhaps?" The girl insisted.

"Sure, if I have the time." Natsu smiled, focusing back to his task at hand without bidding the girl goodbye or ending their conversation properly.

People kept coming by to ask Natsu out to dance until Lucy spoke up. "Why don't you go ahead and dance? I can massage my feet just fine."

"Nah, why should you have to do it when I'm here, fully capable of relieving you of the pain?"

Lucy smiled, resting her head in her hand elbow that was connected to the hand that was tucked in her neck. Not long, someone approached them yet again but before the person could speak up, Natsu beat them to it.

"Look, I'm focusing at Lucy in the moment so I can't dance with you."

"Man, I was coming over to ask Lucy out, not you." They both looked up to see a black-haired man in a red tux looking at Natsu in confusion before turning to Lucy with a wide grin. "So how about it?"

"Can't you see her feet hurt?" Natsu growled, protectively pulling himself in Lucy's space. "Go away."

Before Lucy could react, the guy was already scampering away from them both. "You didn't have to be so rude." The guy spat before turning on the other direction.

"There's no need to be hostile, Natsu." Lucy smiled, caressing Natsu's arm to try and calm him down.

"Yes, I actually did." Natsu grumbled. "He clearly knows your feet hurt and yet he still has the nerve to ask you out in a dance. Someone like that don't know how to treat a girl right meaning there's no way I'm letting him touch you."

The night went on from there. While everybody went off getting drunk from the alcohol-laced fruit punch by the buffet table and grinding against each other, Natsu and Lucy spent the night talking and laughing with each other.

"Now it's time for our finale for the night!" Max's voice echoed across the whole gymnasium. "The awarding ceremony!"

The crowd erupted in drunken cheers and Natsu couldn't help but join in on the fun. Max opened an envelope and started calling out names.

"When you're called, come up on stage!" Max shouted, seeming to not remember the use of a microphone in his drunken stupor. "Give it up for our Dancing King and Queen, the ever so grumpy Gajeel Redfox and sweet yet dangerous, Mirajane Strauss!"

Natsu heard Gajeel bark out an insult before running to the stage to hit Max's head. They both stood by the side to wait for the announcement of the other winners.

"Next up, Mister and Miss Head-turner, resident stripper Gray Fullbuster and Nerd Princess, Lucy Heartfilia!" Max announced.

Natsu's eyes grew wide with pride at Lucy's win, not minding Max's comment about Lucy's smarts. He hastily put Lucy's shoes on their rightful place before letting her stand up and accompanying her to the edge of the stage, helping her walk up the stairs before whipping out his phone and taking a picture of her.

He went back to his seat knowing that the winners will be up there for a while.

"On to the royals!" Max said, continuing. "Prince and Princess of the Night, the new student turned popular Sting Eucliffe and school sweetheart, Lisanna Strauss!"

The two joined the others up in the stage while the teachers pinned their sashes in their clothes.

"Last but certainly not the least, the King and Queen!" Max shouted, his voice seeming endless in energy. "Who do you think it is?!"

The crowd erupted in a series of names thought the most prominent one were Natsu and Loke's names for the King while Erza's name was on the running for Queen.

"You certainly know your batch mates well!" Max grinned, flipping the envelope to show it to crowd. "This year's Winter Ball King and Queen, basketball team captain and school heartthrob, Natsu Dragneel and our very own Student Supreme Council President, Erza Scarlet!"

Natsu grinned, shouting out in victory before running to the stage and placing the crown in his head before roaring. He nudged Gray away from Lucy before taking his place beside her. He grabbed her waist and smiled at the camera man.

"Congratulations." Lucy said, wrapping her arm around his wider back.

"Can the King please stand beside the Queen please?" The photographer politely asked.

"I already am!" Natsu cackled, placing a sloppy kiss right on Lucy's lips without warning. Which was something that the crowd went loose and batshit crazy about.


End file.
